Lucknow,October 24(HS)Uttar pradesh by-election result announced on Thursday has offered quite a few surprises.The BSP which had dumped the SP after the general elections hoping that the party would do better alone in future elections has been proved wrong.The multi-cornered contest which was expected to work to the advantage of the ruling party has actually worked to SP advantage.
Led by Akhilesh Yadav, a young but not reluctant politician,the party has won three of eleven seats which had gone to by-poll on Monday last.It has gained two seats.The BSP on the other hand has drawn a blank,losing even one seat,Jalalpur,it had won in the previous poll.The SP has wrested it from the BSP.
What is more,the BSP has held second posion in only one more constituency whereas its rival,SP,has stood second in seven other seats.The SP was well ahead of the BSP in terms of percentage of votes polled.It dismisses the theory that the BSP is number two party in the state in terms of popularity and reach.
The SP has reestablished that it is the main opposition party and the main BJP rival.The party’s loss in Lok Sabha elections( bagging less number of seats than the BSP) had given a talking-point to its critics.
The SP’s victory in Rampur dominated by Muslims(it has more than 50 per cent Muslim voters) was a foregone conclusion.But it has also won Jaidpur and Jalalpur seats which has surprised many.The victory margin in Rampur (about 7500 votes) was,however, less than expected.
Eight other seats were either won by the BJP or its ally.Lucknow Cantt seat out of these had recorded the lowest percentage of votes(less than 29) and it was feared by the BJP in this light that it would lose the seat.But Suresh Tiwari has proved the pundits wrong.
The other highlight: in Gangoh which had recorded the highest percentage of votes in these elections the Congress was leading till the 27th round.But it was the BJP which finally bagged this seat.
The BJP’s victory in Ghosi is also worth mentioning.The party had fielded son of a vegetable vendor in this constituency. Vijay Rajbhar did not disappoint the party.
It was one of seats which had fallen vacant due to a different reason–different from others.While ten of the total 11 seats had fallen vacant due to election of winners to the Lok Sabha,by-poll was necessitated in Ghosi by appointment of the winner as governor of Bihar.Phagu Chauhan had won this seat in 2017.
