Among the by-elections taking place for nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, the contest for the Karhal assembly seat in Mainpuri district is deemed the most significant for the Samajwadi Party (SP). Party leader Akhilesh Yadav’s nephew Tej Pratap Yadav is running for election from this constituency. Akhilesh Yadav was an MLA from this constituency, but the SP leader vacated the seat after his victory in the Lok Sabha elections.
A party leader in Karhal stated, “Certain villages in the Saifai block are part of the Karhal assembly seat, where we are sure of winning because of the strong presence of Yadav voters.” Nevertheless, the party is not treating the seat casually. The by-election in Karhal is scheduled for voting on November 20.
Among the 3.7 lakh voters in the Karhal assembly constituency, there are approximately 1.4 lakh Yadavs and about 60,000 Shakyas. There are 40,000 Dalits and 15,000 Muslim voters, while Brahmins and Thakurs total approximately 25,000.
Karhal assembly constituency is one of the five assembly segments within the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat. Dimple Yadav, spouse of Akhilesh Yadav, serves as the MP from this area. She is among the most notable female leaders of SP. She is camping in Mainpuri and has supported Tej Pratap by holding public meetings, street corner gatherings, and door-to-door outreach.
On Thursday, she worked on her campaign alongside Badaun MP Aditya Yadav, who is the son of SP national general secretary Shivpal Singh Yadav. On October 27, Dimple shared the stage with Shivpal and Dharmendra Yadav, the MP from Azamgarh and cousin of Akhilesh, during a public meeting in Ghiror village.
Shivpal has promoted the party’s candidates in Karhal, next to the Yadav family’s heritage village Saifai, along with Katehari and Sisamau. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary stated that Akhilesh will launch his campaign for the eight remaining seats, along with those in Jharkhand and Maharashtra, starting Sunday. The presence of all the key leaders of the Samajwadi Party at the Karhal seat demonstrates the significance of this seat for the SP.