SOME HIGH-PROFILE BY-ELECTIONS TO WATCH

Bihar: Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jahanabad and Bhabua Assembly seats are due to go to polls on March 11. Araria was held by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Mohammed Taslimuddin who died. RJD MLA Mundrika Yadav who held the Jahanabad assembly seat and Anand Mohan Pandey of the BJP who held the Bhabua seat also died in harness. The ruling Janata Dal United is not contesting any of them and has left them for the BJP. The by election will test the leadership of Lalu Prasad’s son Tejaswi (who has left Bhabua for the Congress) as also the impact of the JDU-BJP alliance on Bihar politics. Results will be out on March 14.

Uttar Pradesh: Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats will go to the polls on March 11. Both are crucial contests. The Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency was held by the Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who resigned when he became CM. Congress and Samajwadi Party are contesting

separately so the outcome in both constituencies is expected to be in favour of the BJP. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided not to contest either. Odisha: Bijepur assembly seat election was held on February 24. The result will be announced on February 28. Although the term of the new MLA will be quite short, the campaign has been furious with both the ruling Biju Janata Dal and the Bharatiya Janata Party having left no stone unturned in terms of effort.

Madhya Pradesh : Kolaras and Mungavali assembly constituencies went to the polls on February 24. The result will be out on February 28. The term of the new MLAs will be even shorter as assembly elections in the state are just around the corner. Jyotiraditya Scindia is emerging as the Congress’s prime campaigner. The BJP is conscious it must win the election and Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan is the BJP’s main campaigner.