UP assembly bypolls: BJP ally Apna Dal (S) leading in Chhanbey, Suar

Lucknow: BJP ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) is ahead of the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh's Suar and Chhanbey assembly seats, by-elections for which were held this month, according to the latest trends.

Shafeek Ahmed Ansari of the Apna Dal (Sonelal) is ahead of his nearest rival and Samajwadi Party (SP) nominee Anuradha Chauhan by more than 6,000 votes in Suar, the trends on the Election Commission website showed.

In the Chhanbey (SC) assembly seat, SP's Kirti Kol is trailing behind Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Rinki Kol by more than 220 votes, it showed.

Bypolls were held for the Suar assembly seat in Rampur district and the Chhanbey assembly seat in Mirzapur district on May 10. Apna Dal (Sonelal) chief and Union Minister Anupriya Patel is the MP from Mirzapur.

The Suar seat fell vacant in February following the disqualification of two-term legislator and SP leader Azam Khan's son Abdullah Azam Khan after a Moradabad court sentenced him to two years in jail in a 15-year-old case.

The Chhanbey seat fell vacant after the death of Apna Dal (Sonelal) MLA Rahul Prakash Kol in February.

Suar is the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP's last citadel in Rampur district. The Rampur assembly constituency as well as the Rampur parliamentary constituency, both Azam Khan's stronghold, were won by the BJP.

In the last year Uttar Pradesh assembly election, Abdullah Azam Khan had defeated Apna Dal (Sonelal)'s Haidar Ali Khan by a margin of over 61,000 votes in Suar.

Though the bypoll results would not impact the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh as it enjoys more than two-third majority, the win or loss would be considered important for political parties ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections as the the states sends the highest number of members (80) to the Lower House of Parliament. In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, the ruling BJP has 255 MLAs, and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) and the NISHAD Party have 11 and six legislators, respectively.

The SP has 109 MLAs while its ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal has nine. The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party has six MLAs, the Congress and the Jansatta Dal (Loktantrik) have two each and the Bahujan Samaj Party has one member in the assembly.