BJP starts spadework to breach SP forts

BJP brooked no time to waste in its quest to breach the SP citadels of Mainpuri and Rampur where bypolls will be held on December 5 following SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s death and disqualification of Azam Khan in a hate speech case.

- Pankaj Shah

Lucknow: EC announced the bypolls Saturday and BJP on Sunday began its spadework in Mainpuri that Mulayam represented in Parliament since 2004, except when he relinquished it to retain Azamgarh in 2014. In the 1998 and 1999 LS polls, SP’s Balram Yadav had won the seat.

The Rampur assembly seat fell vacant after its MLA Azam Khan was disqualified.

In Mainpuri, BJP’s district committee went into a huddle for micro-assessment of the parliamentary seat. Sources said a meeting of party cadres from five assembly segments were held and observations were communicated to the regional and state leadership.