Bypolls 2019: BJP leader to contest on Apna Dal ticket in UP

Lucknow, Sep 30: In a surprise move, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has fielded Raj Kumar Pal from the Uttar Pradesh's Pratapgarh Assembly seat on an Apna Dal ticket in the upcoming bypoll.

Raj Kumar Pal, presently district-level BJP secretary was earlier with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

After much deliberations on Sunday, the BJP decided to hand back the seat to Apna Dal, but on the condition that the candidate would be of its choice.

In 2017, the Apna Dal MLA Sangam Lal Gupta won the seat but later switched over to the BJP to contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP on Sunday named its candidates for bypolls to 32 Assembly constituencies, which are spread across several states.

Of the 32 Assembly seats, 10 are in Uttar Pradesh, five in Kerala, four in Assam, two each in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab and Sikkim and one each in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan and Telangana.

Bypolls will be held for 51 Assembly seats on October 21, along with the state elections in Haryana and Maharashtra.

The BJP is likely to name the candidates for the remaining seats soon.