Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath after casting his vote in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha by-election
But they couldn't manage to win a single seat.
The Congress, by no means a numerical threat even if it has added four seats since 2014, dubbed the by-poll results as a sign of things to come in the previous year of the BJP-ruled NDA's tenure. No wonder Yogi Adityanath, dubbed the "strongman of Gorakpur", could no better than come up with the lame excuse that the setback was the result of the unofficial SP-BSP alliance. If, as is highly likely, the Congress comes on board, UP could well spell doom for the BJP in 2019.
In Phulpur, the SP's Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel defeated BJP's Kaushalendra Singh Patel by a margin of 59,613 votes.
"With yesterday's result, there is great possibility that the BJP will advance the Lok Sabha polls, which are otherwise to be held in 2019", Mayawati said.
Jailed gangster Ateeq Ahmed, a former SP member who contested as an Independent and was expected to eat into the SP-BSP coalition's Muslim votes, got just over 20,000 votes.
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Sources said since BJP chief Amit Shah and his core team were not involved in the campaign, the workers at the state and the constituency levels took it easy. The party has done badly even in the urban assembly segments, which are a stronghold of the BJP. After the BJP's loss became apparent, Adityanath attributed the defeat to over-confidence and said the party plans to "review the shortcomings", while UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey attributed it to the low voter turnout. The Gorakhnath temple has been at the centre of local politics and only the candidates believed to "have its blessings" have ever won elections from there, be it for the post of mayor or MLA. Brahmins in U.P. are said to be unhappy that Thakurs, led by Mr. Adityanath, are getting prized government postings. Adityanath belongs to the Thakur community.
Gandhi on Wednesday hailed the verdicts in Araria, Gorakhpur and Phulpur as a vote against the BJP saying the anti-saffron sentiment had taken root.
He was replying to a question whether the SP will tie up with the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections.
UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh told PTI the outcome had brightened the prospects of the formation of a "maha gathbandhan" (grand alliance) ahead of the 2019 polls to defeat the saffron party.
BJP leaders said they were caught off-guard by the alliance of the two regional parties, known as the BSP and SP in Uttar Pradesh. The SP had pocketed 22.2 per cent votes and won five seats, while the BSP failed to open its account despite polling 19.6 per cent votes.
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