The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has deployed 30 ministers and 15 senior leaders as observers in 10 assembly seats going to by-elections in Uttar Pradesh. The Election Commission has not yet announced the dates of the polls for these 10 seats.
The crucial by-elections are a litmus test for both the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), which suffered defeat in the Lok Sabha elections in the state, and the INDIA bloc, which faces the challenge of consolidating its position after a comeback in the general elections.
The BJP's preparation is also important amid reports of unrest in the party's Uttar Pradesh unit following its poor performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP won 33 seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, a decline from the 62 seats it had won out of 80 UP seats in the 2019 general elections. Overall, the saffron party's tally of seats fell from 303 in 2019 to 240 in the state in the general elections.
According to a report in the Indian Express, the idea is to appoint ministers and state secretaries for by-elections to ensure that every voter is counted and to address the grievances of party workers ahead of the by-elections, the date of which has not yet been announced.
By-elections in nine constituencies have become necessary following the resignation of MLAs who have now moved to Parliament. The tenth seat – Sishamau – is being contested for a new MLA after its representative Irfan Solanki of the Samajwadi Party (SP) was convicted of harassing a woman over a land dispute.
The SP won five of these seats in the 2022 Assembly elections, while the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), led by Jayant Chaudhary, its then ally and now in the BJP-led NDA, won one. The BJP won three constituencies and its ally NISHAD Party won one seat.
The by-elections are also expected to set the tone for the 2027 Uttar Pradesh state assembly elections.
