BYPOLL BLOW FOR BJP
Yogi bastion among two defeats in UP; RJD retains Bihar LS seat
NEWDELHI: Exactly a year after it swept to power in Uttar Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday suffered a major political setback, losing by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur. The SP, with the support of its foe-turned-friend, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), won Lok Sabha seats vacated by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.
The BJP-Janata Dal (United) alliance also lost the Lok Sabha seat of Araria and the Jehanabad assembly constituency in Bihar, while winning the Bhabua assembly seat. Even as its supremo Lalu Prasad remains in jail, the RJD won the two seats.
The bypoll outcome in general, and the loss of Gorakhpur in particular, sparked shock and introspection in the BJP, which, along with its ally, had swept 73 of the 80 seats in UP in 2014. It also energised the Opposition, which claimed that the victory had laid the foundations for a grand alliance in 2019. The verdict was unambiguous and spelled a reversal of fortunes in UP.
The BJP lost Phulpur, which it had won by over 300,000 votes in 2014, by close to 60,000 votes. It lost Gorakhpur, which it had retained since 1991 and won by 300,000 votes four years ago, by over 20,000 votes. The RJD retained Araria by 60,000 votes.
CM Adityanath called the outcome ”unexpected” and said the party would review the shortcomings. “We admit that we hadn’t estimated that together, with BSP support, SP candidates would be able to win so many votes,” said deputy chief minister Maurya.
A state BJP functionary primarily blamed the defeats on two factors -- poor candidate selection and the formidable social coalition of OBCs, Dalits and Muslims that the SP was able to weave together. “To add to it, our own voters were demotivated and did not turn up. Something has gone wrong. But we have a year to make up,” he said.
Even as the BJP has expanded across the country after 2014, party leaders have continued to see UP and Bihar as the core belt, essential for success in 2019. “From now on, all focus will be on Lucknow and Patna.” A year after the devastating defeat in the UP polls, the bypolls marked the return of SP’s Akhilesh Yadav to the centre stage of UP politics.