BJP releases list of candidates for UP, K'taka Legislative Council by-elections

The BJP declared the names of Dharmendra Singh Sainthwar and Nirmala Paswan as candidates for the council by-polls in Uttar Pradesh while Baburao Chinchanasuru was fielded in Karnataka.

New Delhi: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday released its list of candidates for the August 11 Legislative Council by-elections in Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka. The polling is to be held to fill two Legislative Council seats in Uttar Pradesh while one seat will go to polls in Karnataka.

The BJP declared the names of Dharmendra Singh Sainthwar and Nirmala Paswan as candidates for the council by-polls in Uttar Pradesh while Baburao Chinchanasuru was fielded in Karnataka, according to the party's national general secretary Arun Singh. Notably, Sainthwar is the Gorakhpur region chief of the BJP and Paswan is the party's Kashi region vice president.

The two seats in Uttar Pradesh went vacant after a resignation by BJP leader Thakur Jaiveer Singh and the demise of Samajwadi Party leader Ahmed Hassan. Earlier in April, the party had swept the Uttar Pradesh legislative council elections that were held on 36 seats. BJP had registered a win on 33 seats.

Meanwhile, in a major political development in Uttar Pradesh last month, BJP candidate Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi won the Lok Sabha bypoll in Rampur under the leadership of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanatah, the bastion of Samajwadi Party (SP) big shot Azam Khan. In Rampur, BJP had fielded Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi who recently joined the party. Whereas, SP candidate Asim Raja was handpicked by Azam Khan. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) did not contest from Rampur.

Rampur Lok Sabha seat went vacant due to the resignation of veteran SP leader Azam Khan after he was elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly in the recently held state election. Khan was elected MP from the Rampur seat in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The vacancy in the Lok Sabha seat was created by the resignation of former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav after he was elected an MLA in state Assembly polls. (ANI)