UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary
The race for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly by-elections has turned very interesting, but the Election Commission has changed the polling dates. Polling for nine seats in the state will now be held on November 20 instead of November 13. The Election Commission has changed the polling date for the by-election due to the Kartik Purnima bathing bazaar. The BJP and RLD have been demanding a change in the date. Now, after the Election Commission’s decision, the RLD in Mirapur has breathed a sigh of relief and so has the BJP.
The dates for by-elections to nine seats in UP have been announced at the same time as the Assembly elections in Maharashtra and Jharkhand. The polling dates for all nine seats in UP and the first phase of by-elections in Jharkhand were announced on November 13. The UP by-election is considered a semi-final in 2027 and both the ruling and opposition parties are pulling out all the stops, but political tension has increased over the BJP-RLD alliance due to the Kartik Purnima festival.
Voting will now take place on November 20
The Election Commission had earlier fixed the by-election polling date as November 13 and Kartik Purnima’s bathing date as November 15. Ganga bathing took place after two days of voting. In this case, why are the RLD and the BJP facing questions calling the Election Commission to postpone the November 13 poll date. In this case, the Election Commission accepted the views of the BJP and the LDF and changed the date of the by-election. The voting date originally scheduled for November 13 has been changed to November 20.
In Uttar Pradesh, the Kartik Purnima bathing festival and Ganga worship have religious significance. Kartik Purnima bathing festival is held on November 15. On the day of Kartik Purnima, a large number of people come to bathe and worship, but on the occasion of Kartik Purnima, people gather on the banks of the Ganga in Kundarki, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhwan and Prayagraj three to four days in advance. Due to Kartik Purnima, the BJP and RLD alliance are concerned that people from the majority community will be deprived of their right to vote. There was therefore a danger of low turnout among Hindu votes and a delegation of leaders of the BJP and UDF met the Election Commission and demanded a change in the date.
Great relief from RLD
RLD president and Union minister Jayant Chaudhary won the Meerapur seat with SP support two and a half years ago, but now he has joined hands with the BJP. In the 2022 elections, the same RLD won the Meerapur seat with the help of Jat-Muslim-Gurjar equation and now in the by-elections, the same RLD is trying to maintain its political hegemony by playing the Hindu-Muslim chessboard, but Jayan Jayant Chaudhary’s rally heightened political tensions. In this scenario, does RLD face a challenge to retain the Meerapur seat?
Jayant’s first test before Lok Sabha elections
The RLD contested the Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the BJP and managed to win two quota seats. After joining the BJP, Jayant’s first test in the assembly elections will be from the Meerapur seat. RLD managed to win the Meerapur seat in 2022 with the support of SP, but after Chandan Chauhan became MP, the seat is undergoing by-elections and Mithlesh Pal has been chosen as the candidate. In Mirapur constituency, which has more than 125,000 Muslim voters, the Socialist Party fielded Subur Rana, the PPP fielded Shah Nazar, the LSP fielded Zahid Hussain, and the AIMIM fielded Arshad Ra Accept. Jayant Chaudhary was hopeful of victory amid the threat of fragmentation of Muslim votes, but Kartik Purnika Chowk heightened political tensions.
Postponing the election is a political lifeline for the RLD.
More than 10,000 people from the Hindu community, the site of the Mirapur rally, arrived at Shukla Tirtha Chowk in Muzaffarnagar four to five days before Kartik Purnima and camped there until Kartik Purnima. Festival. The RLD faces political tensions and its political equation in Melpur may be disrupted due to the November 13 polls. The RLD faces its own threats if it is deprived of eight to 10,000 votes in a by-election. In this case, the Electoral Commission set the voting date for November 20, much to the relief of the RLD. Voting takes place five days after Kartik Purnika so people return after bathing and market. From this point of view, it is no less than the political lifeline of RLD.
The Bharatiya Janata Party also gained political peace
Not only the RLD but also the BJP is facing political tension due to the Kartik Purnika fair by-election. Due to Kartika Purnika’s presence, there is a danger of disturbing the political balance of the BJP in Ghaziabad, Kundalki, Phulpur, Majhivan, Kaitri and Khel seats. A large number of people from these seats arrive three to four days in advance to take bath in the Ganga on the occasion of Kartik Purnima. The Bharatiya Janata Party also faced the danger of heightened political tensions when it went to vote on November 13 as large numbers of Hindu voters went to bathe in the Ganges, but the Election Commission eased the pressure by setting the polling date for November 20 instead of the 13th. November. After five days of Kartik Purnika, people will return home easily. In this case, the BJP breathed a sigh of relief by changing the dates.
