UP CM Yogi Adityanath meets ministers to discuss upcoming assembly bypolls

Lucknow, Jul 17 (PTI) Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday met ministers from the state at his residence here to discuss the upcoming Assembly bypolls in 10 constituencies.

The floods in the state, which have so far affected more than 700 villages across 17 districts, were also discussed during the meeting.

The meeting comes weeks after the Lok Sabha elections in which the ruling BJP performed poorly. The party was reduced to 33 seats, a drop of 29 seats from 2019.

The INDIA bloc gained ground with the Samajwadi Party (SP) securing a win on 37 seats, a jump of 32 seats as compared to 2019, and the Congress winning on six seats.

“The meeting today was especially held to discuss the upcoming elections and we will win all the 10 assembly seats where by-elections are to be held,” Finance Minister Suresh Khanna said after the meeting.

All the Uttar Pradesh cabinet ministers and ministers of state were present in the meeting, sources said.

Jal Shakti Minister Swatantra Dev Singh, who also attended the meeting, said “discussions were held on floods along with developmental works”.

The 10 assembly seats, which are set to go to bypolls, are Katehari (Ambedkar Nagar), Karhal (Mainpuri), Milkipur (Ayodhya), Meerapur (Muzaffarnagar), Ghaziabad, Majhawan (Mirzapur), Sisamau (Kanpur Nagar), Khair (Aligarh), Phulpur (Prayagraj) and Kundarki (Moradabad).

Nine of the 10 seats fell vacant after the MLAs resigned following their victory in the Lok Sabha polls. Prominent among these seats was Karhal (Mainpuri), which fell vacant after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav resigned following his elections to the Lok Sabha from Kannauj.

SP’s Irfan Solanki’s Sisamau assembly seat in Kanpur Nagar was declared vacant following his disqualification in view of his seven-year imprisonment by MP/MLA court.