Samajwadi Party leadership is in touch with INDIA alliance partner Congress for seat sharing. Rahul and Akhilesh Yadav have already announced that they would contest these elections in alliance. Both the parties are identifying the seats as well as the candidates to take on BJP and alliance partners in these 10 seats.

Samajwadi Party is holding discussions with district office-bears in 10 constituencies to take feedback on possible candidates and local issues are likely dominate during campaign. Samajwadi Party is also aware that BJP would like to avenge the defeat in Ayodhya in particular and other seats in general.

Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi are aware that CM Yogi Adityanath and BJP leadership have made it a prestige issue to win all the 10 seats and have deployed more than a dozen ministers and senior leaders to mobilize support of voters for BJP candidates.

Samajwadi Party is confident that ticket distribution through PDA (pichda, dalit and alpsangkhayak) will help in winning the elections. Akhilesh Yadav is also playing factional infighting in BJP and division of party in two camps one led by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and other led by backward leader and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.

While the upper caste especially Thakur community is openly with chief minister Yogi Adityanath, the backward leaders are their weight behind Keshav Prasad Maurya who deliberately avoided meetings presided by chief minister Yogi Adityanath after the results were declared in June. So much so, leaders of alliance partners Nishad Party Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party are also meeting Maurya and extending their support publicly.

There is a realisation in BJP also that infighting and division on caste line will help Samajwadi Party looking for support of dalits backward and Muslims. After successfully playing PDA card in ticket distribution, Samajwadi Party has played Brahmin card by appointing seven time MLA and former Speaker of UP Assembly Mata Prasad Pande as Leader of the Opposition. Samajwadi Party will take the advantage from experience of Mata Prasad Pande as well to influence powerful Brahmin voters in eastern UP in 10 assembly by-elections.

It would be worth mentioning here out of 10 by-elections, nine we're vacated as sitting MLAs got elected to Lok Sabha while one was vacated due to conviction of Samajwadi Party MLA in a criminal case. Out of these 10 assembly seats, five we're won by Samajwadi Party, three by BJP and one each by RLD and Nishad Party.

Congress is keen to contest in five seats won by BJP and alliance partners. Much depends on the negotiation between Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi. Although dates have not been announced but UP will witness keen contest in all the 10 seats with INDIA alliance, NDA and BSP leaders gearing up exercises to identify candidates. (IPA Service)