The Hindu : New Delhi News : BJP sees a ray of hope

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Wednesday, May 30, 2007
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New Delhi

BJP sees a ray of hope

Special Correspondent

`Party considers by-poll victory a commendable feat'

NEW DELHI: An electoral win for the Bharatiya Janata Party in a by-election in the Khaga Assembly segment of Fatehpur district in Uttar Pradesh has come as a consolation prize for it after it registered its worst ever performance in the State since 1989 when it had won 57 assembly seats.

Party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar pointed out that the party had not won this seat before and that this time it managed to wrest it from the Bahujan Samaj Party, considered a commendable feat, coming so soon after the BSP's handsome performance in the Assembly elections.

The Khaga election was countermanded following the death in an accident of the Congress candidate Maurya who had contested this very same Assembly seat in 2002 as a BJP candidate.

The results for the by-election declared here on Monday showed that the BJP candidate Ranvendra Pratap Singh (who contested as an independent in 2002) had worsted his nearest rival Usha Maurya, widow of the former Congress candidate. The BSP, which won this seat in 2002, was at number three position with the Samajwadi Party finishing fourth.

BJP leaders were trying to read more into this victory than simply a win in a by-election. "Polling booth wise data shows that in areas dominated by the upper castes we swept the polls," a senior leader commented. "We can now hope that not all is lost for us in U.P.," he said.

With the Khaga win, the BJP's tally in the 2007 Assembly elections in U.P. has gone up to 51.

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