The Assembly byelection in Manth Assembly segment in Mathura district is turning into a battle of prestige between the ruling Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.
The seat fell vacant following the resignation of Mr Jayant Choudhury and the Rashtriya Lok Dal has fielded Yogesh Choudhury who is working overtime to retain the seat for the party.
The ruling Samajwadi Party has fielded Sanjay Lathar from Manth. Mr Lathar is a lose associate of UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and had been a member of the latter’s core team during the election campaign. The Samajwadi leadership, therefore, is closely monitoring the campaign and is keen to wrest the seat form the RLD. In the March Assembly polls, the SP candidate had ended up with merely 1,058 votes.
However, the man who could play a game-changer in this byelection is former UP minister Shyam Sunder Sharma who is contesting on a Trinamul Congress ticket once again.
A six-term legislator, Mr Sharma had lost to Mr Jayant Choudhury by 16,000 votes in March and is confident of wresting back the seat from the RLD.
Pandit Radhey Shyam Gosain, a local priest, said, “Jayant Choudhury won because of his position and stature but the day he quit the Assembly seat, the people realised their folly in voting for him. Shyam Sunder Sharma is now a favourite as far as elections are concerned.”
Interestingly, there is another Shyam Sunder Sharma (Independent) contesting the bypolls and people feel this is a deliberate attempt to create confusion in the voters’ mind.
However, the former minister has shrewdly suffixed “mantri” to his name to clarify doubts, if any.
“I have suffixed “mantri” to my name because people insisted I do so. I do not need any introduction in my constituency and the people will elect the best candidate. I have confidence in myself and my people and God,” said Mr Shyam Sunder Sharma.
The Congress and the BJP have not fielded their candidates in the byelections and this makes the seat keenly contested between the RLD-SP and Mr Shyam Sunder Sharma.