In UP Bypolls, BJP Wins Both Seats On Akhilesh Yadav's Home Turf

In a body blow to Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party just months after a crushing defeat in the state elections, the BJP won the bypolls for the Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats on Sunday. While the BJP's Dinesh Lal Yadav 'Nirahua' won the Azamgarh seat by over 8,000 votes, Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi won Rampur by over 42,000.

Both seats have been strongholds for Akhilesh Yadav's party for years. The Azamgarh seat came into play after the election of the former Chief Minister to the state assembly, and the Rampur seat was similarly vacated by the party's tallest Muslim leader, Azam Khan.

After leading initially as the counting of votes began at 8 am, the Samajwadi Party candidates in both the seats were mostly left trailing as the day progressed.

In Azamgarh, the candidate from Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Shah Alam, amassed over 2 lakh votes, coming very close to both the BJP and Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates. This strong performance appears to have majorly impacted the Samajwadi Party's Dharmendra Yadav.

Another factor for this tight contest seems to be the absence of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav from the campaign, even as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath aggressively canvassed in both Rampur and Azamgarh.

"No, it does not matter. He was checking on my campaign all the time," Dharmendra Yadav said when NDTV asked about the former Chief Minister's absence from the campaign.

Mr Yadav got into an argument with security personnel and alleged he was not allowed in the room where voting machines were kept for counting because they were being changed. He, however, was later allowed in. Senior police officer Anurag Arya said those entitled were allowed entry after "frisking".

Meanwhile, Azam Khan alleged election fraud and misuse of official machinery, declaring that he would leave politics if "any international agency" conducts the polls and his party candidate is defeated. He also said that the SP candidate Mohd Asim Raja's defeat is the "defeat of democracy".

"Let elections be conducted honestly. I say the International Court of Justice should come and conduct elections here. If my candidate gets defeated then, I will leave politics," he told reporters on the Rampur results.

Though the outcome of the bypolls in the politically significant state will not make much of a difference in the numerical strength of the parties in the Lok Sabha, the fall of bastions of the Samajwadi Party may have a bearing on the 2024 general elections.

The BJP already has 62 out of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The bypoll victory has increased the party's tally to 64, while the count of Akhilesh Yadav's party has come down to three from five.

The BJP's victory in the Samajwadi Party's bastions also reinforced the party's popularity after a comfortable victory in the February-March state polls.

For the main opposition party, many saw the result reflect a losing grip over Muslims and Yadavs, the home ground of their "MY" support base.

The two constituencies voted on June 23, with Azamgarh recording a turnout of 49.43 per cent and Rampur 41.39 per cent.

In 2019, the vote percentage in Azamgarh was 63.19, while Rampur had witnessed 57.56 per cent polling.

During the campaigning in Azamgarh, Chief Minister Adityanath had asked the people to miss the opportunity for making "Azamgarh as Aryamgarh", dropping a hint of changing the name of the district - a demand made by Hindu organisations and opposed by Muslims.

The BJP's Nirahua, a popular movie star, attributed his victory in Azamgarh to the Chief Minister. "This is a victory of the work our Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has been doing during the pandemic. It is a win for that governance and the hard work of the people and BJP workers in Azamgarh. It was a tough contest that went on to the last ball," he told NDTV.