BJP announces candidates for UP by-polls

Lucknow, Aug 26: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday announced its candidates for the Sep 13 by-polls for 11 assembly and one parliamentary seat in Uttar Pradesh.

Prem Singh Shakya will be the BJP candidate for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat vacated by Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Mulayam Singh Yadav who won from both Mainpuri and Azamgarh but chose to retain Azamgarh.

Gopal Tandon, son of senior BJP leader and former Lucknow MP Lalji Tandon, will be party candidate for the Lucknow (East) assembly seat, which was vacated by union minister Kalraj Mishra after his election to the Lok Sabha from Deoria.

Other party candidates are Rajeev Gumber (Saharanpur City), Hemendra Pal Singh (Bijnore), Rajpal Chauhan (Thakurdwara), Vimla Batham (Noida), Ram Kumar Verma (Nighasan), Jagdish Vyas (Hamirpur), Santosh Patel (Sirathu) and Akshaywar Lal Gaur (Balha).

Geeta Singh has been named as the party candidate from Charkhari, which was vacated by union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.

BJP ally Apna Dal will field its candidate on Rohania seat.

The BJP had won all 11 assembly seats in the 2012 assembly polls and is endeavouring to retain them while the SP is trying to make a dent in the saffron strongholds.

The Congress has decided to contest the Sep 13 by-polls alone while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is not contesting the polls.

IANS