In a huge blow to the ruling BJP in Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party with backing of the Bahujan Samaj Party on Wednesday wrested from the party two Lok Sabha seats of Gorakhpur and Phulpur vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya. The election results are embarrassment for Yogi as they come four days before he completes one year in office on March 19.
In Gorakhpur, Pravin Nishad of the SP defeated his nearest rival Upendra Dutt Shukla of the BJP by 21.961 votes. The SP candidate polled 4,56,437 votes, the BJP got 4,34,476 while the Congress candidate got 18,844 votes only.
In Phulpur, Nagendra Prtap Singh Patel of the SP defeated his nearest BJP
rival Kaushelendra Patel by 59,613 votes. The SP polled 3,42,796 votes, the BJP got 2,83,183. Independent Atiq Ahmed polled 48,087 votes and Congress candidate Manish Mishra got only 19,334 votes. The voter turnout was 47.45 per cent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 per cent in Phulpur in polling held on March 11.
The SP took lead right from the beginning of the vote count and steadily built up the gap with its BJP rivals both in Gorakhpur and Phulpur. As the SP raced ahead of the BJP, party workers of BSP and SP raised ‘bua-bhateeja zindabad’ slogans. While SP activists celebrated in Phulpur and Gorakhpur, the BJP was stunned into silence. Leader of the Opposition in State Assembly and SP member Ram Govind Choudhury rushed to the residence of the BSP chief Mayawati and thanked her for extending support to the SP candidates in the two Lok Sabha seats.
The counting began amid tight security for both the constituencies. Gorakhpur was represented by Yogi before he became the Chief Minister, while Phulpur was represented by Keshav Prasad Maurya, before he became the Deputy Chief Minister.
The victory of the SP candidate with the backing of the BSP is likely to cement the alliance for the upcoming 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Dubbed as the arch-rival in the regional political arena, Mayawati and Akhilesh decided to be partners for the by polls to counter the BJP in UP. With the BSP backing its bitter rival SP, the BJP tasted a shock defeat in both the constituencies. Regional arch-rivals SP and the BSP were steamrolled by the BJP in 2017 UP Assembly elections. They teamed up for the first time in 25 years.
Five-time MP from Gorakhpur, Yogi had described the by-elections a dress rehearsal for the general election next year.
The low voters turn out is said to be the major cause for the stunning defeat of the BJP in both the seats.
In 2014, the BJP stunningly won 73 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats while one of its allies secured two seats. The SP won from five seats. The Congress won two seats and BSP drew a blank. Both Gorakhpur and Phulpur were prestige battles for the BJP which has been on a winning spree. The party just won Tripura State elections dislodging the Left Front Ggovernment from the state.
“This is a rejection of both the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Yogi. They have been making tall promises but not delivering on the ground’’, said SP spokesperson Rajendra Chowdhary on Wednesday.
The Congress party candidates failed to even save their security deposits.