The Hindu : Front Page : BSP sweeps U.P. by-elections

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Thursday, Apr 17, 2008
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BSP sweeps U.P. by-elections

Atiq Khan

LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party has swept all five by-elections in Uttar Pradesh the results of which were declared on Wednesday, winning two Lok Sabha seats and three Assembly seats.

A jubilant Chief Minister Mayawati declared soon after that the verdict had paved the way for BSP’s success in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

The BSP leader described the verdict as a victory of her government’s policies and work culture. Ms. Mayawati said while the “love for the Dalits” of the Congress stood exposed, the histrionics of SP president Mulayam Singh, who campaigned with film actors, failed to impress voters.

The Khalilabad Lok Sabha seat was won by Bhishm Shankar alias Kushal Tewari of the BSP, who defeated his nearest SP rival Bhal Chandra Yadav by over 64,000 votes. Mr. Tewari got 218,393 votes and Mr. Yadav 153,761. Sanjay Jaiswal of the Congress finished third with 94,564 votes.

The Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat was won by Akbar Ahmed “Dumpy” of the BSP by a margin of over 54,000 votes. He polled 227,340 votes against 173,089 of BJP’s Rama Kant Yadav. Balram Yadav of the SP finished third with 156,621 votes.

The Bilgram, Karnailganj and Muradnagar Assembly seats were won by Rajni Tiwari, Brij Singh alias Braj Kunwari and Rajpal Tyagi of the BSP. They defeated their nearest SP rivals Vishram Singh Yadav and Yogesh Pratap Singh in Bilgram and Karnailganj, and Ayub Khan of the RLD in Muradnagar. Ms. Mayawati told a press conference here that the Congress and the BJP had lost deposit in four constituencies, while the SP had lost deposit in one.

The Azamgarh and Khalilabad Lok Sabha seats were won by the BSP in the 2004 elections. Incidentally, Rama Kant Yadav and Bhal Chandra Yadav were the winners here in 2004. They were later expelled from the party by Ms. Mayawati and had to quit the Lok Sabha membership.

Bilgram was won by the BSP in the 2007 U.P. Assembly elections. The by-election was caused by the death of the victorious candidate. The seat was won by his widow on Wednesday. In Muradnagar, Rajpal Tyagi had won the seat in 2007 as an Independent. He resigned later, joined the BSP, and was given the ticket by Ms. Mayawati for the by-election. Ajay Pratap Singh (Congress) had won the Karnailganj seat in 2007. He quit the Congress and his Assembly membership and joined the BSP. The seat has now been won by his sister.

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