Aparna Yadav among losers
LUCKNOW: Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, was among the losers as the saffron tide swept across Uttar Pradesh capital Lucknow on Saturday, with the BJP bagging eight out of nine seats here.
This was a major jolt to the SP, which had won seven seats in 2012.
Besides Aparna, three ministers, one of whom was recently sacked, also lost in the Assembly polls.
Aparna was defeated by Rita Joshi of the BJP by a margin of 33,796 votes in Lucknow Cantt. LUCKNOW: Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav have all reasons to be upset with the Uttar Pradesh poll results. Not only their parties failed to return to power, the BJP secured massive victories in Muslim dominated areas – where SP and BSP parties used to enjoy lead in previous polls.
From all six constituencies of riot-hit Muzaffarnagar to Deoband in Saharanpur, Bareilly, Bijnor and Moradabad where Muslims dominate the demography, the BJP swept the polls. Though the voting percentage is yet to come, Mayawati has alleged tampering of EVMS by the BJP, saying even the ‘Muslims votes have gone to the saffron party which is unacceptable.'
Well, how true is Mayawati's allegation will be probed by the Election Commission. But if Muslims have cast their vote in favour of BJP, it is a big achievement for Narendra Modi and Amit Shah who are accused of marginalising the minorities. And the result in this region seems to be a big blow to the appeasement politics of the ruling SP and the BSP.
After the 2013 communal riots in Muzaffarnagar that saw the killing of over 60 people, there was a massive polarisation between the two communities. And in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Hindus voted for the BJP. The Muslims on the other hand were pained by the inaction of the Akhilesh Yadav government. The young chief minister was strongly condemned by the Muslim community for ignoring their plight. The images of Akhilesh with Bollywood stars in Safai Mahotsav when Muzaffarnagar was buring seems to have done maximum damage to the SP. And that gave Mayawati's BSP, whose social engineering of bringing together Brahim and Dalit voters in 2007 polls saw her party storming to power, an opportunity to get Muslim voters in combination with Dalits on her side. But with Akhilesh emerging as the young face of development in UP, the Muslims were not very sure of going with Behenji. LUCKNOW: After the humiliating defeat in the assembly polls, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday suggested that the BJP had won by "misleading" the voters and sided with BSP chief Mayawati who raised questions over EVMS.
He submitted his resignation to Governor Ram Naik who accepted it and asked him to continue till further arrangements.
"I think in a democracy you get vote not by 'samjhana' (making people understand) but by 'behkana' (misguiding)," he told a press conference here after the poll results came.
"In the entire elections, there were massive crowds in my rallies. I did not expect such a thing will happen. I hope the next government will work better than SP government," he said.
"The people might not have liked my expressway and they voted for the bullet train," Akhilesh said.
Stating that he "accepts the verdict of the people", Akhilesh said, "I will do analysis at booth level. I will accept the responsibility after analysing the reasons of the defeat at booth level."