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Lucknow: Campaigning for the bye-elections to the Sikandra Assembly constituency ended on Tuesday, with the ruling BJP exuding confidence that it will end the year on a winning note. Polling for the seat in Kanpur Rural district will be held on December 21. The seat had fallen vacant following the death of sitting BJP member Mathura Prasad Pal on July 22 due to illness.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and state BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey campaigned for the party candidate Ajit Pal Singh, who is Pal's son. The Samajwadi Party has fielded Seema Sachan, while the Congress nominee is Prabhakar in a field of 12 aspirants, including five independents.

In the 2017 Assembly elections, Pal polled 87,879 votes defeating nearest Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) rival Mahendra Katiyar who got 49,776 votes. Meanwhile, the BJP exuded confidence that it will improve its electoral performance in the bypoll and end the year on a winning note.

"We will definitely register an emphatic win in the Sikandara Assembly bye-election and improve the margin," UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said. Counting of votes will be done on December 24.