BJP maintains its hold in UP
Even though the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party lost a previously held seat, it managed to maintain its strong hold in Uttar Pradesh as the party and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won eight of the 11 seats whose results were declared on Thursday.
“The bypoll results are a testimony of the hard work of BJP workers. We won seats across the state — from east to west,” BJP state chief Swatantra Dev Singh said after the results were declared in Lucknow.
Singh said the results showed that people had faith on the policies of the Yogi Adityanath government.
“It (result) is a testimony of the pro-people policies of the government which has helped people, particularly the poor. The party has got votes from all sections of society, reflecting the spirit of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas,” Singh said.
In the politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, where the fight was on 11 Assembly constituencies, the bypolls were being seen as a litmus test for the opposition which failed to make an impact in Lok Sabha elections against the ruling BJP in May.
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) won eight of the 11 Assembly seats which went to bypolls, while losing the Zaidpur seat in Barabanki district to Samajwadi Party.
The BJP won the Lucknow Cantonment, Balha, Iglas, Manikpur, Gangoh, Ghosi and Govindnagar seats while Apna Dal (Sonelal) bagged the Pratapgarh seat.
The BJP got around 35 per cent votes, followed by 22 per cent by the Samajwadi Party, 16.30 per cent by the BSP and 12.38 per cent by the Congress.
The UP bypolls were crucial for the Yogi Adityanath government which has completed 30 months in office. The BJP currently has 302 MLAs in the 403-member UP Assembly.
The average polling in the state was recorded at 47.05 per cent.
The BJP state unit had appointed incharges and had given the responsibility of leading campaign to senior office-bearers and ministers in their respective constituencies.
On the other hand, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav addressed only the election meeting in Rampur while Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati did not address even a single rally in Uttar Pradesh.
