Cong to go it alone in UP bypolls, declares candidates

The Congress today decided to go it alone in the Parliamentary bye-elections in Uttar Pradesh and declared its candidates.
Party general secretary Janardan Dwivedi told PTI Dr Sureetha will be its candidate for the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha bypoll, and local leader Manish Mishra will contest from the Phulpur parliamentary seat.
The bye-elections were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath vacated the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Phulpur seat.
The elections will be held on March 11 and the results will be announced on March 14.
Filing of nominations began on February 13 and the last date is February 20.

Adityanath and Maurya had resigned as Lok Sabha members in September last year after being elected to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.
It is speculated that BSP chief Mayawati, who had last year resigned from the Rajya Sabha, may contest the Phulpur bypoll. However, there is no official word from the party.
The bypolls in UP will be a test for Adityanath as the results will be seen as a reflection on his government's popularity.