UP assembly bypolls: BSP mounts efforts to increase tally

Lucknow, Aug 29 (UNI) An intense political battle is on for the three by-elections in Uttar Pradesh after Bahujan Samaj Party's landslide win in the assembly polls as the entire Opposition is pitted against the ruling party.

The three assembly seats -- Gunnaur, Suar Tanda, and Farrukhabad-- where bypolls will be held on August 31, where earlier held by the Samajwadi Party.

While in Farrukhabad, BSP minister Anant Kumar Mishra is pitted against Congress candidate Vijay Singh, who won the seat in the March-April polls, former Samajwadi Party member Kazim Ali was contesting on a BSP ticket from Suar Tanda seat.

The Gunnaur seat was vacated by former Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, after being elected from Bharthana and Gunnaur.

The Farrukhabad seat was vacated by SP's Vijay Singh after he joined the BSP but was later refused a ticket. He then joined refuge in Congress, which nominated him.

On all the three seats, a keen contest is on the cards. In Farrukhabad, the issue of outsiders is prominent, while in Suar Tanda, it is a battle of supremacy between the Nawabs, represented by the BSP candidate, and SP leader Mohammd Azam Khan.

BSP minister Anant Kumar Singh, who lost the last assembly polls from Kanpur, is being termed as an ''outsider'' by the other candidates in Farrukhabad. There are 16 candidates in the fray for the seat.

In Yadav-dominated Gunnaur, the SP is trying to encash the popularity of the party chief. Among the 11 contestants, mostly of the Yadav community, is Rashtriya Parivartan Dal(RPD) chief D P Yadav's brother.

Altogether 8.47 lakh voters in the three assembly constituencies will exercise their franchise in 844 polling booths from 0700 hrs to 1700 hrs on August 31. Counting of votes for all the three seats would be held from 0800 hrs on September 3.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission has made elaborate security arrangements for free and fair polls by deploying 32 companies of central para military forces to oversee the polling process. While 10 companies of CPMF each will be deployed in Suar Tanda and Farrukhabad seats,12 companies will be engaged in Gunnaur.

Besides the central forces, UP government has also deployed district police and PAC for the election duty.

According to state election office here, central forces will be deployed in all the 523 polling stations, while a secretary and an under-secretary level officer of the commission will be stationed in each of the three assembly constituencies during the polling and counting process.

UNI