OBC leader Dara Singh Chauhan is BJP candidate from Ghosi

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

BJP on Monday announced the candidature of Dara Singh Chauhan for the bypolls to the Ghosi assembly seat. Chauhan, a former minister in CM Yogi Adityanath's cabinet re-joined the party after switching over to the Samajwadi Party last year.

This seat was vacated by Chauhan before returning to the BJP. Chauhan will compete against former MLA from the seat Sudhakar Singh, who was nominated by the Samajwadi Party on Sunday.

Chauhan had won the seat for the SP in 2022 assembly polls, wresting it from the BJP whose Phagu Chauhan won it for the party in the 2017 assembly polls. Post Chauhan's nomination as governor of Bihar in 2019, Vijay Rajbhar ensured the BJP continued to occupy the seat in the bypolls that followed.

The contest in Ghosi will be a test of the BJP's hold over the OBCs in the region. They had recently received a boost with the joining of Chauhan and SBSP chief OP Rajbhar.

This will also be a test for Akhilesh Yadav's newly-formulated 'Picchde Dalit Alpsankhyak' (Backwards, Dalit, Minority)' or 'PDA' plank which seeks to consolidate the support of the three voter groups against the NDA for the upcoming 2024 polls. The Ghosi seat is known for its dominant OBC population, including the OBC sub caste of Nonia Chauhan which Chauhan belongs to, as well as Muslims, especially weavers.