Voters arrive to cast their votes at a polling station during the by-elections to Dumri assembly seat in Jharkhand. Pics/PTI
While the opposition alliance is putting up a united front in Ghosi constituency in Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand's Dumri, Dhanpur and Boxanagar in Tripura and Uttarakhand's Bageshwar, its constituents are contesting against each other in Dhupguri in West Bengal and Puthuppally in Kerala
In Uttar Pradesh, Ghosi seat fell vacant after the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan, who rejoined the BJP
While the ruling BJP-led NDA has fielded Chauhan, Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh has got the support of the Congress and Left parties. Chauhan was a minister in the previous BJP government headed by Yogi Adityanath. He had resigned from the Council of Ministers on January 12, 2022 and switched to the SP
Campaigning has been high-pitched as both sides are aware that it is a litmus test for the opposition unity and a victory could set the trend in their favour for the Lok Sabha polls next year. In the 543-member Lok Sabha, Uttar Pradesh has 80 MPs
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the BJP's charge. Interestingly, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, who had skipped campaigning for the other two prestigious bypolls in Rampur and Azamgarh last year, addressed an election meeting in Ghosi
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.jpg "In Uttar Pradesh, Ghosi seat fell vacant after the resignation of Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA and OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan, who rejoined the BJP")
