UP Assembly bypolls: BJP names candidates for 7 seats

Lucknow, Oct 24 (PTI) The BJP on Thursday announced the names of candidates for seven of the nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh where bypolls will be held on November 13.

The BJP has fielded Ramvir Singh Thakur from Kundarki, Sanjeev Sharma from Ghaziabad, Surendra Diler from Khair (SC) and Anujesh Yadav from Karhal, a party release said.

Deepak Patel is the party's pick for Phulpur seat, Dharmraj Nishad for Katehari and Suchismita Maurya for Majhawan.

The BJP's list of candidates came just a day before the last date for filing nomination papers. There is speculation that the BJP will give the remaining two seats to its allies.

The opposition Samajwadi Party has announced it will contest all nine seats with the support of its INDIA bloc allies.

The nine assembly seats where bypolls will be held are Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Kundarki, Phulpur, Sisamau, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair.

The bypolls were necessitated as eight of the seats fell vacant after their MLAs were elected to the Lok Sabha. Sisamau seat fell vacant due to the disqualification of Samajwadi Party MLA Irfan Solanki following his conviction in a criminal case. PTI