How retaining Kairana has suddenly become tougher for BJP

By Dilip -
With the JD(S) and the Congress joining hands to keep the BJP out of power in Karnataka, all eyes are now on Uttar Pradesh where bypolls for the Kairana Lok Sabha seat and Noorpur assembly seat are slated to be held on May 28. The bypolls hold much importance for the ruling BJP after the recent drubbing in the Gorakhpur and Phoolpur bypolls where arch rivals Samajwadi Party tied up with the Bahujan Samaj Party to defeat the saffron party.

Moreover, after a show of strength by a united Opposition during the HD Kumaraswamy swearing-in in Karnataka, the BJP must have felt the pinch, and a defeat in Kairana and Noorpur will make it obvious that regional parties together can combat the ‘invincible’ BJP in the 2019 general elections. Unlike in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, the Congress has joined hands with the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party in a bid to deal another blow to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats. Kairana hit the national headlines before the 2017 UP assembly elections after the local MP Hukum Singh raised the issue of Hindu exodus from the area.  The bypoll in the seat has been necessitated following the death of Hukum Singh.


To cash in on the sympathy wave towards Hukum Singh’s family, the BJP has fielded his daughter Mriganka in Kairana. But RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan, who has the support of the BSP, SP and Congress, seemed confident too. Hasan’s candidature got a boost on Thursday after Lok Dal candidate Kanwar Hasan joined the Rashtriya Lok Dal at a meeting held in Kairana in the presence of Jayant Chaudhary, the national vice-president of RLD... read more:
http://indianexpress.com/article/india/how-retaining-kairana-has-suddenly-become-tougher-for-bjp-noorpur-sp-congress-hukum-singh-up-5190338/

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