Lucknow, Nov 19 (PTI) With nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh going to bypolls on Wednesday, political parties especially the ruling BJP, its ally RLD and main opposition SP are busy in a massive door-to-door contact campaign, aimed mainly at mobilizing healthy turnout of supporters at the polling booths.

The bypolls will be held in Katehari, Karhal, Meerapur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan, Sisamau, Khair, Phulpur and Kundarki. Counting will be done on November 23.

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While eight of these constituencies fell vacant after the sitting MLAs contested Lok Sabha elections and won, Sisamau is going to the bypoll after incumbent SP MLA Irfan Solanki was convicted in a criminal case.

A total of 90 candidates are in the fray for the bypolls, with Ghaziabad having most candidates (14) and Khair (SC) and Sishamau (Kanpur) the least at 5 each. Public campaigning through rallies concluded on Monday, but candidates and their supporters have since begun to undertake door-to-door campaigns.

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"Apart from door to door canvassing, we invited women to recite the holy Quran to seek God's blessings in their supplications ahead of the crucial election," said Naseem Solanki, the SP candidate from Kanpur's Sisamau.

Naseem, who also met voters to seek their vote, is one of the five contestants in Sisamau. She is locked in a triangular contest and is pitted against Suresh Awasthi (BJP) and BSP's Virendra Kumar, who also undertook door-to-door canvassing.

Awasthi's supporters said he was busy making arrangements at the polling booths and centres.

"We are appealing to people to vote in BJP favour on the basis of our government's good governance," Awasthi's supporter said.

"Inflation and price rise doesn't not bother us. Under the Modi-Yogi governments there is good law and order, regular electricity supply, and new highways. What more do we need?" asked Satendra Pal Singh, a BJP supporter who runs a chemist shop near Andalaon the Aligarh-Khair road.

"The Jat-Brahmin dominated Khair constituency was a Lok Dal bastion till the late 1980s before BJP made inroads in this area," said local journalist Alok Kumar Singh.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath campaigned twice in Khair against Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's solitary campaign visit.

Several state ministers also addressed election rallies during the past one week. In contrast SP's campaign was totally dependent on the party chief.

In Khair, lack of coordination between SP and Congress was evident too.

District unit chief of Congress Somveer Singh on Monday had said: "We were not kept in the loop about election meetings and even during Akhilesh Yadav ji's visit our flags were not displayed on the stage. Still we are doing our best."

On Tuesday, district authorities shifted former zila panchayat chief Tejveer Singh from Bulandshahr jail to Naini Central Jail. Singh is serving a life-term in connection with the murder of former MLA Chaudhry Malkhan Singh. Tejveer's daughter-in-law Charu Kain is the SP candidate from Khair.

In Mainpuri, seven candidates are in the poll fray, though the main contest appears to be between BJP's Anujesh Pratap Singh and SP's Tej Pratap Singh who were seen discussing last minute poll strategies with their supporters.

In Ghaziabad, candidates were undertaking door-to-door contact, while booth level officers were seen distributing voter slips to the eligible voters.

Workers of political parties too were seen undertaking door to door visits to check if their party supporters had received voter slips.

Ghaziabad police has also started searching hotels and lodges to ensure that no "outsiders" were present in the assembly constituency ahead of the polling.

DCP (city) Rajesh Kumar Singh told PTI: "Giving money or other inducements to voters in any way is against the election code of conduct, and action will be taken against those found indulging in this act."

Ambedkar Nagar's Katehari assembly segment, has turned into a fortress as the police have barricaded all entry points, including village pathways and narrow thoroughfares. Movement of vehicles, including two-wheelers,has been restricted since Tuesday morning.

Here Shobawati Varma, wife of SP's Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha MP Lalji Varma is contesting against BJP's Dharamraj Nishad.

Meanwhile, Lalji Varma returned his police security, after accusing the administration of a biased approach.

"They are attempting to intimidate our voters,especially backwards and Muslims. I have no belief in local administration and police as they are working as BJP's agents," he said.

In the Phulpur assembly segment of Prayagraj, SP candidate Mohd Mujtaba Siddiqui was seen interacting with voters at his office.

Nominated councilor in Prayagraj Municipal Corporation Pawan Srivastava who was campaigning for BJP candidate Deepak Patel from Phulpur seat, said they have been tasked with booth management.

In the 2022 Assembly polls, Sisamau, Katehari, Karhal and Kundarki were held by the SP, while the BJP won Phulpur, Ghaziabad, Majhawan and Khair.

The Meerapur seat was won by the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which is now an ally of the BJP in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)