Vote for two UP LS seats today

By-elections to the Mainpuri and Akbarpur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh tomorrow, will decide who has the upper hand in the state""the Samajwadi Party or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and whether the Congress has recovered any ground at all since its state party unit chief was changed a few weeks ago.

The Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat was earlier held by Mulayam Singh Yadav who gave it up when he became the chief minister of UP. By-elections were held in October but were cancelled following firing in which three people died.

Victory for the Samajwadi Party from Mainpuri, its pocket borough, is almost certain, though 13 candidates are in the fray, testifying to the prestigious nature of the constituency.

The Samajwadi Party candidate is Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother, Dharmendra Yadav, who is locked in a straight fight with BSP nominee Rambabu Kushvaha.

Mainpuri is part of the UP's badlands, well known for its law and order problems. Clashes between Dalits and Yadavs are common and the Dalits are well organised here, which is why they are relatively more assertive. This time, however, it seems unlikely that the BSP candidate will have much of a chance in this constituency.

Recognizing the sensitivity of the election, the poll is taking place under the direct supervision of the Election Commission and a large number of police and PAC forces have been deployed. The last two days of campaigning saw a flag march by paramilitary forces to reassure people about the safety of the forthcoming election.

A defeat in this by-election will represent a serious setback for the Samajwadi Party which, according to party general secretary Amar Singh, has won all Assembly by-elections held so far by a margin of around 10,000 votes.

The situation is the reverse in Akbarpur, the constituency vacated by BSP leader Mayawati after the Samajwadi Party formed a government in the state. Fifteen candidates, including eight independents, are contesting here.

The constituency will see a triangular fight among Congress candidate Ummed Singh, also husband of slain bandit Phoolan Devi, BSP nominee Tribuvan Dutt and Samajwadi Party candidate Shank Lal.

The lineup of candidates for Akbarpur constituency indicates that the tenuous Congress-BSP alliance in the state, which is one of the only ways the common enemy of the two parties""the Samajwadi Party""could have been defeated, has not really materialized.

The percentage of votes polled by the Congress candidate will indicate whether the party has managed to gain any additional popularity since party chief Sonia Gandhi replaced Jagdambika Pal with Salman Khurshid recently. The two by-elections will be Khurshid's first test after taking over reins of the state party unit.

About 15,000 security personnel have been deployed in Akbarpur to ensure trouble-free polling. Six Election Commission observers each have been posted in both the constituencies to keep a close watch on the contestants and their supporters and videography ordered at all the sensitive and hyper sensitive polling stations, sources said.