In less than 24 hours after the Congress failed to secure a majority in the Haryana assembly elections, Samajwadi Party, on Wednesday, announced its candidates for six of the 10 Uttar Pradesh assembly constituencies where bypolls are expected to be held in November. Though the National Conference in alliance with the Congress won a comfortable majority in Jammu and Kashmir, the grand old party emerged as a weak link in the alliance as its tally was limited to single digit. Among the six candidates announced by the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday are party chief Akhilesh Yadavs cousin Tej Pratap Yadav from Karhal, Irfan Solankis wife Nasim from Sisamau, and Faizabad MP Awadhesh Prasads son Ajit from Milkipur. The party has fielded Mustafa Siddiqi from Phulpur, Shobhawati Verma from Katehari and Dr Jyoti Bind from Manjhwa. The Samajwadi Party said that the Congress claim to five of the 10 assembly seats where bypolls are to be held was unfounded. SP spokesperson Ashutosh Verma, in a post on X, shared data of the previous assembly elections to underline that the Samajwadi Party either won or came in second on all 10 assembly seats where bypolls are due. The Congress should understand its ground reality before thinking of bargaining for seats. I think they must support the SP unconditionally, Verma said. The Election Commission of India is yet to announce the dates for the UP assembly bypolls. Sources close to Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav said the party was willing to give one or two seats to the Congress if they request for it politely. Among the seats the SP is willing to part with is Ghaziabad, where the Congress candidate came in second in the Lok Sabha elections. However, it is no secret that the unilateral declaration of six candidates by the Samajwadi Party has landed Congress in a fix. Some political observers see this as a sign of the Congress losing its bargaining power in the aftermath of its poor showing in the assembly elections in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. The Samajwadi Party had in fact sought two seats in Haryana but the Congress refused to consider the request. Bypolls are due in 10 UP assembly seats. They include Katehari in Ambedkar Nagar district, Karhal in Mainpuri district, Milkipur in Ayodhya, Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar, Ghaziabad, Majhawan in Mirzapur, Sisamau in Kanpur Nagar, Khair in Aligarh, Phulpur in Prayagraj and Kundarki in Moradabad.

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