Lucknow
The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday alleged that the police prevented people from casting their votes in the Assembly byelections in the State. Byelections were conducted in the Suar and Chhanbey constituencies. Suar recorded a provisional turnout of 33% and Chhanbey 32.64% till 3 p.m.
“The Samajwadi Party demanded Election Commission of India (ECI) take immediate cognisance of the complaints of rigging and intimidation of voters and booth capturing by the ruling party in the by-elections being held in Assembly Constituency-34 Suar and Mirzapur District Assembly Constituency-395 Chhanbey. Arvind Kumar Singh, former member of the Rajya Sabha, has sent all complaints related to the by-election to the Chief Election Commissioner of India and we expect immediate action from him,” the SP said in a press release. The BJP ridiculed the allegations saying the SP had accepted defeat in the bypolls.
The bypolls are a direct contest between the Apna Dal (Sonelal), an ally of the ruling BJP, and the Samajwadi Party, with both parties fielding relatively new candidates.
In Suar, the Apna Dal (Sonelal) has fielded Shafiq Ahmed Ansari, a Pasmanda Muslim, and the SP gave ticket to Anuradha Chauhan. The bypoll was necessitated due to conviction of Abadullah Azam, the son of SP’s Muslim face Azam Khan.
In Chhanbey, the Apna Dal (Sonelal) fielded Rinke Kol, wife of Rahul Prakash Kol, whose death necessitated the byelection.