The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) today announced that it would contest the May 28 Kairana Lok Sabha bypoll and hoped to get the "full support" of other like-minded, non-BJP parties.
The Ajit Singh-led party also said it would extend support to the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Noorpur Assembly bypoll.
"We have decided to field Tabassum Beghum from Kairana parliamentary constituency," Uttar Pradesh RLD chief Masood Ahmad told PTI.
"We expect the full support of other like-minded, non-BJP parties, especially the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), besides the Congress. Tabassum Beghum has joined the party today and hopefully, she will emerge as the joint opposition candidate," he added.
Tabassum Beghum, a former BSP MP from Kairana, had later joined the SP. She joined the RLD in New Delhi today in the presence of party chief Ajit Singh and other senior leaders.
Exuding confidence that the RLD will win the crucial Kairana bypoll, Ahmad said, "The process of forming a coalition (against the BJP) has started and soon, a mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) will be formed."
He added that the RLD would support the SP candidate in the Noorpur Assembly bypoll.
The Kairana bypoll was necessitated following the death of its sitting BJP MP, Hukum Singh, in February. Similarly, the Noorpur bypoll was necessitated due to the death of sitting BJP MLA Lokendra Singh Chauhan in a road accident in February.
Both the bypolls are crucial for the ruling BJP as well as the opposition parties, as the results may set the tone for the 2019 parliamentary election in Uttar Pradesh.
The BJP will put in an extra effort to retain both the seats to send a message to the voters, party cadre as well as the opposition parties that its drubbing in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls was a closed chapter now and that the saffron party was still strong in western Uttar Pradesh.
On the other hand, the opposition parties are viewing these bypolls as another opportunity to convey a message to the voters that the saffron fortress had been breached.
Voting in the Kairana and Noorpur bypolls will be held on May 28 and the results will be declared on May 31.
The Kairana parliamentary constituency comprises five Assembly segments -- Shamli, Thanabhawan, Kairana (all in Shamli district), Gangoh and Nakur (Saharanpur district).
In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BJP's Hukum Singh had bagged 5,65,909 votes as against his nearest rival, Nahid Hasan of the SP, who had secured 3,29,081 votes.
RLD vice-president Jayant Chaudhary held a nearly three-hour meeting with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on May 4 and an understanding was reached that both the parties would jointly contest the Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur Assembly bypolls, RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey said.
A broad understanding has also emerged that all the opposition parties should contest the 2019 Lok Sabha polls unitedly, he added.
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