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Neeraj Shekhar wins Ballia seat

- Photo: Subir Roy

Fun and joy: Jubilation at the Samajwadi Party office in Lucknow on Wednesday after its candidate Neeraj Shekhar won the Ballia Lok Sabha by-election.

LUCKNOW: The former Prime Minister Chandra Shekhar’s son and Samajwadi Party candidate, Neeraj Shekhar, maintained his family’s hold on the Ballia Lok Sabha seat in eastern Uttar Pradesh by winning the by-election by a huge margin.

A first timer in electoral politics, Mr. Shekhar trounced his nearest Bahujan Samaj Party rival Vinay Shankar Tewari by a margin of over 1.31 lakh votes.

Bharatiya Janata Party’s Virendra Singh and Rajiv Upadhaya of the Indian National Congress lost their deposits. The results of the December 29, 2007 by-election, caused by the death of the former Prime Minister in July 2007, were announced on Wednesday.

The poll outcome is seen as a setback to Chief Minister and BSP president, Mayawati’s “social engineering” formula. Mr. Shekhar capitalised on the sympathy wave for his father. He secured more votes than his father did in the 2004 Lok Sabha election.

In 2004, contesting on a Samajwadi Janata Party ticket, Chandra Shekhar got 2.70 lakh votes, compared to 2.95 lakh votes secured by his son in this by-election.

Mr. Tewari’s tally of 1.64 lakh votes, however, was less than that secured by the BSP candidate in 2004.

The Ballia seat comprises the Chilkahar, Bansdih, Doaba, Ballia City and Kopachit Assembly segments. In the April-May 2007 Assembly elections, the SP bagged Chilkahar and Kopachit and the BSP the remaining seats.

Compared to the total number of 1.55 lakh votes garnered by the SP in the five Assembly segments in the Vidhan Sabha polls, the BSP, with 1.54 lakh votes, was just marginally behind its political adversary.

Considered to be the land of revolutionaries, Ballia came to be Known as Chandra Shekhar’s political borough. He scored five consecutive poll victories from here in1991, 1996, 1998, 1999 and the 2004 general elections.

After Chandra Shekhar’s death, a dispute arose between Neeraj Shekhar and his other son, Pankaj Shekhar, on who will be the father’s political successor. The issue was settled by SP president Mulayam Singh. He gave the ticket to Mr. Neeraj Shekhar.

The SP described the Ballia victory as a strong indicator of the electoral battles ahead. Senior leader, Ahmed Hasan, told newspersons that Ms. Mayawati’s “social engineering” plank was a non-starter in Ballia.

He said neither money nor muscle power worked for the ruling party as resentment against the BSP government was translated into votes for the SP.

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