BSP reposes faith in Avneesh Shakya for Karhal bypoll contest

After the Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced its candidate for the poll-bound Karhal assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh. Avneesh Shakya, a doctor by profession, will represent the BSP in the upcoming by-election to be held on November 13.
Shakya and the SP’s Tej Pratap Singh Yadav are likely to file their papers next week. Now, all eyes are on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to declare its candidate for the by-election to the prestigious seat that was vacated by SP president Akhilesh Yadav after his election as a parliamentarian earlier this year.
SP district president Alok Shakya has indicated that Tej Pratap might file his nomination papers on Monday. According to Gore Lal, a senior BSP leader, Shakya may follow suit on Wednesday before the process draws to a close on Friday (October 25).
If one takes caste combination into account, the dominance of Yadav voters can be well understood by the fact that SP leader Babu Ram Yadav won from Karhal five times. Two of his wins, in 1993 and 1996, were on a SP ticket.
Thereafter, SP leader Sobran Singh Yadav won the seat four times from 2002 to 2017. Karhal is located at a distance of 12 km from Saifai–the village of late SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav.
In Karhal, Shakya voters are second only to Yadavs in terms of numbers. Thus, the BSP giving a ticket to Avneesh Shakya has left the ruling BJP with more homework before it announces its pick for the seat.
Along with Karhal in Mainpuri district, the nomination process for Aligarh’s Khair in the Braj region also began on Friday. Khair will go to polls after it was vacated by BJP’s Anoop Pradhan Valmiki, who recently won the MP contest from Hathras.