Karhal bypoll: Dalit woman’s body found in sac in UP's Mainpuri, family claims electoral rivalry

Lucknow: Amid the ongoing by-polls, the body of a dait woman was found stuffed in a sac in Karhal assembly constituency in Uttar Pradesh’s Mainpuri district on Wednesday.

According to the police sources, the body was recovered from Nagla Anti area in the district.

Two persons, identified as Prashant Yadav and Durga Yadav, were arrested in this connection after an FIR was lodged by the family of the 23-year old woman.

They said that she had been seen with some people in Karhal town on Tuesday night.

The mother of the victim alleged that she had been ‘murdered’ by the duo after she refused to follow their diktat to vote for a particular party. The family members said that the victim had been missing since Tuesday night.

The issue snowballed into a political controversy with the BJP and the SP trading barbs.

Raising concern over the incident, the BJP accused the SP of "creating an atmosphere of terror" in its bastion.

"In Karhal, Samajwadi Party leader Prashant Yadav and his associates murdered a Dait girl just because she had refused to vote for the 'cycle' (SP's election symbol). In Mainpuri, the Saifai family and Akhilesh Yadav's goons are again trying to create an atmosphere of terror," the BJP's Uttar Pradesh unit posted on X and attached a video of the grieving father.

BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary also took to social media to slam the SP over the issue.

Samajwadi party denied any involvement in the incident. "This is a conspiracy to defame the Samajwadi Party by the BJP, which often engages in such activities. This has nothing to do with the SP," SP spokesperson Rajendra Choudhary told PTI.

Separately, the SP also cast aspersions on the police over its role in Karhal during the bypolls.

"In Mainpuri's Karhal assembly constituency, Police Inspector Lalit Bhati is spreading fear in the name of patrolling with the force, which may affect voting. Election Commission should take cognizance and ensure fair voting," the SP posted on X in Hindi along with video of police patrolling.

Meanwhile, SP president Akhilesh Yadav during a press conference in Lucknow alleged that the Election Commission was turning a blind eye and deaf ear to the complaints being raised by his party over BJP's alleged misuse of government machinery to tilt the bypolls in its favour.

Karhal was among the nine assembly seats where polling was held on Wednesday. The seat was held by Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav, who resigned from there after being elected to Lok Sabha from Kannauj seat.

Police said that an FIR was registered and investigation was on. ‘’We are investigating the election rivalry angle also,’’ said a police official in Mainpuri.

(With PTI inputs)