UP bypolls: In colossal setback, BJP suffers bitter drubbing in India's Hindi heartland
ET Online and Agencies|
Updated: Mar 14, 2018, 06.48 PM IST
In a huge setback for the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party has won the Phulpur and Gorakhpur Lok Sabha by-poll.
Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel has won Phulpur with a margin of over 59,000 votes defeating his nearest rival Kaushlendra Singh Patel of the BJP.
Phulpur Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated after BJP MP Keshav Prasad Maurya became the deputy chief minister in the Uttar Pradesh government.
In Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency, Praveen Nishad of the SP defeated BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla by 21,881 votes.
"This is a rejection of both (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath)," Samajwadi Party spokesman Anurag Bhaudauria told IANS.
"They have been making tall promises but not delivering on the ground," he added.
The Samajwadi Party has acknowledged the support extended by the BSP in the two by-elections. "BSP workers have backed us, they worked hard. They have contributed well. We express our thanks to the leaders and workers of BSP," SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, reported IANS.
Both Gorakhpur and Phulpur are prestige battles for the BJP which has been on a winning spree. The party recently won Tripura state elections dislodging the Left Front government from the state. It also managed to cobble together an alliance in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
The BJP, reacting to the poll setback, said that it will revisit its strategy ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
"We had not seen the Samajwadi Party and BSP coming together but since we have come to know of this now...and though there is still a long time (ahead of the polls)...we will redraw our strategy keeping this factor in mind," Sidharth Nath Singh, who is a cabinet minister in the UP government, said, reported PTI.
Both the Gorakhpur and Phulpur went for bypolls on Sunday and witnessed low voter turnouts with Gorakhpur registering 47.45% voting and Phulpur witnessing 37.39% voting.
A win for SP-BSP alliance can cement hopes of a possible third front for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the Bihar by-election, the Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading in Araria parliamentary by-poll and has won in the Jehanabad assembly segment. The BJP has won in Bhabua Assembly by-poll.
Samajwadi Party's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel has won Phulpur with a margin of over 59,000 votes defeating his nearest rival Kaushlendra Singh Patel of the BJP.
Phulpur Lok Sabha bypoll was necessitated after BJP MP Keshav Prasad Maurya became the deputy chief minister in the Uttar Pradesh government.
In Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency, Praveen Nishad of the SP defeated BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla by 21,881 votes.
"This is a rejection of both (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Yogi (Adityanath)," Samajwadi Party spokesman Anurag Bhaudauria told IANS.
"They have been making tall promises but not delivering on the ground," he added.
The Samajwadi Party has acknowledged the support extended by the BSP in the two by-elections. "BSP workers have backed us, they worked hard. They have contributed well. We express our thanks to the leaders and workers of BSP," SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav said, reported IANS.
Both Gorakhpur and Phulpur are prestige battles for the BJP which has been on a winning spree. The party recently won Tripura state elections dislodging the Left Front government from the state. It also managed to cobble together an alliance in Meghalaya and Nagaland.
The BJP, reacting to the poll setback, said that it will revisit its strategy ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
"We had not seen the Samajwadi Party and BSP coming together but since we have come to know of this now...and though there is still a long time (ahead of the polls)...we will redraw our strategy keeping this factor in mind," Sidharth Nath Singh, who is a cabinet minister in the UP government, said, reported PTI.
Both the Gorakhpur and Phulpur went for bypolls on Sunday and witnessed low voter turnouts with Gorakhpur registering 47.45% voting and Phulpur witnessing 37.39% voting.
A win for SP-BSP alliance can cement hopes of a possible third front for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In the Bihar by-election, the Lalu Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) is leading in Araria parliamentary by-poll and has won in the Jehanabad assembly segment. The BJP has won in Bhabua Assembly by-poll.