UP, Bihar by-polls: BJP names candidates for Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Araira

The BJP on Monday announced candidates for the by-elections to the Lok Sabha seats of Gorakhpur and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh and Araira in Bihar, scheduled to be held on March 11.

The party has fielded former mayor of Varanasi, Kaushlendra Singh Patel as its candidate from Phulpur while Upendra Shukla would contest from Gorakhpur.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) picked former MP Pradip Kumar Singh as its candidate for the Araria Lok Sabha by-election.

The Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) has fielded Sarfaraz Alam, son of the late MP Mohammad Taslimuddin, for the seat.

For the two seats of Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party and Congress have already announced their candidates.

The SP, which is contesting the Gorakhpur by-election in alliance with Peace Party and Nishad Party, has fielded Praveen Kumar Nishad as their candidate. Praveen is son of Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad.

In Phulpur, the SP has fielded Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel.

The Congress has announced Manish Mishra as its candidate from Phulpur, while Surhita Chatterjee Karim will contest from Gorakhpur.

The elections in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha seats were necessitated after Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister while Phulpur MP Keshav Prasad Maurya was appointed his deputy.

Adityanath has represented Gorakhpur five times in the Lok Sabha from 1998.

The Araria seat fell vacant after the death of Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Mohammad Taslimuddin in September 2017.

The last date for filing nominations for all three Parliamentary seats is February 20 and the last date for withdrawal of candidature is February 23.