Shocker for the Saffron Party ,SP wrests Gorakhpur, Phulpur from BJP,
NEW DELHI/ LUCKNOW/ PATNA In a stunning blow to the BJP ahead of the 2019 general elections, the party today lost bypolls to all three Lok Sabha seats it contested, including its bastion Gorakhpur, and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh, besides Araria in Bihar.
The shocker for the BJP came days after its surprise win in three northeastern states, including Tripura, where it scripted history, demolishing the Left citadel of 25 years and forming its first government in the state. Together with its regional allies, the BJP also formed its governments in Nagaland and Meghalaya.
U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath says he accepts “the verdict of the people”. “This result is unexpected, we will review the shortcomings. I congratulate the winning candidates,” ANI reports. PTI quotes Mr. Adityanath as saying: “BJP’s performance in two Lok Sabha by-elections is lesson for us.”
“Governments which trouble people are brought down, this government brought problems and led to fear among the people,” says Mr. Akhilesh. This is a mandate against both the Centre and State governments, people have come together to bring “bad days” for the BJP, says Mr. Akhilesh Yadav.
A consolidation of OBC, Dalit and Muslim votes powered Samajwadi Party candidates to victory in Gorakhpur, a seat represented by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for five successive terms, and Phulpur, which elected his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya in the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. BJP had won Phulpur for the first time.
Samajwadi Party’s Pravin Nishad defeated BJP’s Upendra Dutt Shukla in Gorakhpur, the seat which was with the party since 1989, while Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel of SP clinched the Phulpur seat drubbing the saffron party’s Kaushalendra Singh Patel .
Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav said the results of Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-polls give a “message and a direction” to national politics but refused to go into the issue of alliances for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He said the results were a rejection of the policies of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Prades.Addressing a press conference, Akhilesh Yadav profusely thanked BSP supremo Mayawati and her party workers for his party’s victory in the by-polls.
Ignoring Congress, which contested in the two seats, the former UP CM thanked other parties and leaders including the Nationalist Congress Party, Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Ajit Singh, Nishad Party, Peace Party and the Left parties for their contribution in his party’s victory.
The BJP scored a zero in the bypolls to three Lok Sabha constituencies, two in U.P. and one in Bihar. The Samajwadi Party wrested the Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies in U.P., while the RJD retained the Araria seat in Bihar.Results of two Bihar Assembly bypolls too were announced on March 14. While the RJD won the Jehanabad seat, the BJP retained the Bhabhua constituency.
Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said It is clear from the results that voters have a lot of anger towards the BJP and will vote for any non-BJP candidate who has more chances of winning,” he tweets in Hindi. “The Congress is keen on rebuilding the party in UP, but that will not happen overnight.”
RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam wins the Araria Lok Sabha seat defeating BJP’s Pradeep Kumar Singh by a margin of 57358 votes.
Even as results are coming in for Araria, BJP’s Pradeep Singh congratulated his rival Sarfaraj Alam of the RJD. Mr. Singh also said internal sabotage by local party leaders was the reason for his defeat.
This is the first electoral battle in the state since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the JD(U), walked out of the alliance with the RJD and the Congress and joined the BJP-led NDA last year.
The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council.
(With Agency Inputs).
