UP bypolls: BJP pitches Akash Saxena against SP candidate

The BJP on Tuesday announced its candidates for the bypolls in UP, fielding Akash Saxena, the "crusader", against SP candidate in Rampur.

Son of former BJP MLA from Rampur Shiv Bahadur Saxena, he had contested against SP's Azam Khan in the recent assembly election and lost by more than 55,000 votes. Other cases filed by Saxena against Khan include a first information report (FIR) for allegedly derogatory remarks against the Central Reserve Police force (CRPF) in 2017, a case against his son and Suar MLA Abdullah Azam for producing allegedly fake documents to obtain a passport. It was heeding his complaint in the 2019 election that the returning officer filed an FIR against Khan for statements made by him during campaigning.

In Mainpuri, continuing with the trend of fielding a Shakya against SP's Yadav family member, the BJP has fielded Raghraj Singh Shakya, who will go up against SP's Dimple Yadav. In both 2014 and 2019, the BJP had fielded a Shakya.


In the constituency comprising about 1.74 million voters, about 26% and the largest bloc is of Yadavs, followed by nearly 17% Shakyas, a backward caste community. Lodhis, Thakurs and Brahmins are the remaining castes.