UP bypolls: Adityanath to address rallies next week

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will address rallies on October 15, 16 and 18 in the run-up to the October 21 bypolls to 11 Assembly seats in the state, the ruling BJP said on Wednesday.

According to state BJP media co-incharge Alok Awasthi, Adityanath will address rallies in the Gobindnagar (Kanpur), Manikpur (Chitrakoot), Lucknow Cantonment and Pratapgarh Assembly constituencies on October 15.

The chief minister will address rallies in the Zaidpur-SC (Barabanki), Jalalpur (Ambedkarnagar), Balha-SC (Bahraich) and Ghosi (Mau) Assembly constituencies on October 16, Awasthi said.

On October 18, Adityanath will be in the Gangoh (Saharanpur), Rampur and Iglas-SC (Aligarh) Assembly constituencies to address poll rallies, he added.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has announced candidates for 10 seats, while the Pratapgarh seat has been given to its ally, Apna Dal.

The bypolls will be held in the Gangoh, Rampur, Iglas (SC), Lucknow Cantonment, Govindnagar, Manikpur, Pratapgarh, Zaidpur (SC), Jalalpur, Balha (SC) and Ghosi Assembly constituencies.

The Ghosi seat fell vacant following the resignation of its MLA Phagu Chauhan, after he was appointed as the governor of Bihar.

While the BJP is eyeing to increase its tally in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly by bagging the Rampur and Jalalpur seats, held by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) respectively, the opposition parties are attempting to topple the saffron party's applecart in the bypolls, which are tipped to be a four-cornered contest with the BSP too fielding candidates.