UP byelection: BJP fields heavyweights for campaigning ahead of Nov 3 Gola Gokarannath bypoll

The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) will be facing off in Gola Gokarannath assembly seat in Lakhimpur district for the bypoll scheduled for November 3.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress have stayed away from the by-elections, necessitated following the demise of Arvind Giri due to a cardiac arrest last month. While the BJP has fielded Arvind Giri’s son, 26-year-old Aman Giri, the SP’s candidate is former MLA Vinay Tiwari.

The BJP has fielded several heavyweights to campaign for Aman. Among the campaigners are UP Cabinet minister Suresh Kumar Khanna and state MoS Baldev Singh Olakh and UP ministers of State Suresh Rahi and Satish Sharma.

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Khanna and Olakh have been camping in the constituency and addressing public meetings and are also participating in door-to-door campaigns.

Earlier, BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and deputy CM Brajesh Pathak and Union MoS Kaushal Kishore have campaigned for the BJP candidate.

On Friday, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya will be campaigning for Giri, while Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is scheduled to address a public rally on November 1, which is the last day for campaigning.

For the SP, district president Rampal Singh Yadav said the SP state president Naresh Uttam and various leaders of the party have already been campaigning for Tiwari. However, party chief Akhilesh Yadav has not yet campaigned for the party candidate.

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Vinay Tiwari, 52, had won from the seat in 2012, and in 2017. However, he had lost to Arvind Giri in 2022.

A BJP leader from Lakhimpur Kheri told IE that the party has fielded Aman to encash on the sympathy factor in favour of him as his father Arvind Giri has been elected as an MLA for five terms.

Bypolls in seven assembly seats in six states, including Gola Gokarannath, will be held on November 3, and counting of votes will be held on November 6.