Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav on Monday appealed to the voters to participate in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-elections which is underway today, for the "all-round development" of the constituency.
Voting began at 7 am in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and six assembly seats in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.
"I appeal to all the voters of Mainpuri Lok Sabha to participate enthusiastically in Mainpuri Lok Sabha by-election-2022. Your every vote is the strength of democracy. Do go to cast your vote today for progress, prosperity and all-round development of Mainpuri," Yadav tweeted.
Earlier today, Samajwadi Party (SP) leaders thronged to cast their votes as the voting began, claiming that the party candidate Dimple Yadav will win with "three times more votes" than what Mulayam Singh Yadav garnered.
SP MP Ram Gopal Yadav cast his vote in Etawah's Saifai. "Dimple Yadav (party's candidate for the by-election) will win with three times more votes than what Netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) used to get," he said.
Akhilesh Yadav and Dimple Yadav will also cast their votes later in the day in Saifai.
Voting for the by-elections for the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh and six assembly seats in Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh began today at 7 am.Ram Gopal Yadav further alleged that the BJP "goons" had come to the powerhouse of Mainpuri and pushed the SP's agents.
"In Mainpuri, they weren't allowing agents at booths 141, 142, 143, 144, 145, 146. We spoke to Returning Officer, I'll find out if it was later allowed. Similarly, BJP goons came to a powerhouse of Mainpuri in an inebriated state & pushed our agent out. The police and administration are of no help," Yadav alleged.
"Police-admin are manipulating. EC had directed that deployment for election duties be randomised. But when polling parties arrived, around 2000 of the staff were stopped and held back as reserves as they had Yadav surname. They forget that not only Yadavs but everyone votes for SP," Yadav further alleged.
"They don't even allow the casting of votes in Rampur. The beating up of people started yesterday. SSP there is the one who was removed from Firozabad on my complaint during polls. This SSP was there the last time too & even now. There is nobody to listen but the public is supreme," the SP leader alleged.
Samajwadi Party patron Late Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother Abhay Ram Yadav cast his vote at Abhinav Vidyalaya in Saifai, Etawah and said that there is no competition with any political party.
"SP is going to win by a huge margin. There is no competition with any other political party," he said.
Polling in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency was mandated following the demise of the sitting MP and former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav. The party has fielded his daughter-in-law and wife of Akhilesh Yadav, Dimple Yadav. She is pitted against BJP's former MP Raghuraj Singh Shakya.
The voting for high voltage by-elections will continue till 6 pm. The counting of votes will be done on December 8.
( With inputs from ANI )
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