Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai said that his party would support the Samajwadi Party candidate in the Ghosi assembly constituency bypoll in Mau district.
In a letter issued on Saturday, Rai appealed to the rank and file of the party in Mau district to extend their support to SP candidate Sudhakar Singh in the by-election.
Constituents of the INDIA opposition grouping, the Congress and the SP are trying to put up a united face for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The bypoll to Ghosi assembly seat is an important opportunity to cement the unity. The Congress has not fielded its candidate in the Ghosi bypoll. The Bahujan Samaj party has decided to stay away from the bypoll.
Sources in Congress, however, pointed out that the SP has not reciprocated the gesture as it has fielded its candidate in the Bageshwar assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand, where the Congress has fielded its candidate against Bharatiya Janata Party’s candidate.
This indicates that there are internal dynamics within the INDIA bloc that are yet to be worked out and that seat-sharing would be a stumbling block for the allies in going forward.
The sources said that they were “expecting cooperation from the SP” in Bageshwar and would want the SP to reconsider its decision to field its candidate from Bageshwar before the window of withdrawal of nomination closes.
The SP has, however, not withdrawn its candidate.
