Mayawati on why BJP could go for early Lok Sabha polls; top developments
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Thursday said the BJP may call for early Lok Sabha elections after its stunning defeat in the parliamentary bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, whose gamble of backing the Samajwadi Party for the bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in the state paid rich dividends, said the idea was to teach the party a lesson. Addressing a rally here, she labelled the Narendra Modi government at the Centre a "dictatorship" and alleged that it had "surpassed" the Emergency imposed by the Congress government in 1975. Mayawati also accused the government of weakening democracy and making constitutional organisations and the media ineffectual. "In Uttar Pradesh, we wanted to teach the BJP a lesson and decided to support SP candidates so that it loses the seats earlier held by the chief minister and deputy chief minister... They have lost their sleep with this result," she said.The Uttar Pradesh and Bihar Lok Sabha and Assembly byelection results dealt a major blow to the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) on Wednesday. The party, which is in power in both the states, lost four of the five seats in the bypoll
including the all-important Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats in Uttar Pradesh. The Gorakhpur seat, until recently, was represented by chief minister Yogi Adityanath. Significantly, Gorakhpur was earlier held by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had held the Phulpur seat.Especially worrisome for the BJP was the fact that it was trounced by the BSP-backed Samajwadi Party in the high-stakes Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypolls which could boost the chances of a 'mahagathbandhan' of anti-BJP parties before the 2019 general elections. After sweeping the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 and the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections last year, the BJP faced a last-minute alliance stitched by the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the bypolls. BSP supremo Mayawati had announced her party's backing for SP candidates in both Gorakhpur and Phulpur in return for the SP's support for her party's candidate in the Rajya Sabha biennial elections. The BJP lost the Gorakhpur seat to the SP by a margin of 21,961 votes. SP candidate Pravin Kumar Nishad got 456,437, while his nearest rival BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla secured 434,476 votes. In the Phulpur constituency, SP candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel defeated BJP candidate Kaushalendra Singh by a margin of 59,613 votes. The winner polled 342,796 votes, while the BJP candidate secured 283,183.Meanwhile, in Bihar, the BJP also lost the Araria Lok Sabha constituency and the Jehanabad Assembly seat while scoring a consolation win in the Bhabua Assembly seat. The results in both the states triggered calls for a Grand Alliance -- a la Bihar -- all across India to take on the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.Once the outcome of the Uttar Pradesh 2018 bypolls was known, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that "over-confidence and the inability to understand the understanding between SP and BSP" were the prime reasons for the BJP's defeat. Here are the top 10 developments in the shock defeat for BJP in UP and Bihar bypolls: 1) SP victory boosts chances of an anti-BJP coalition in UP: With the tacit understanding between the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in the Lok Sabha bye-elections for two seats paying off, chances of a 'mahagathbandhan' of anti-BJP parties before the 2019 general elections got a boost in Uttar Pradesh. These results are the beginning of the formation of a broadest possible alliance of Opposition forces before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, senior political analyst and retired head of the political science department of the Lucknow University Ramesh Dixit said. 2) Siddaramaiah's advice to Yogi: The Karnataka CM on Thursday advised his Uttar Pradesh counterpart Yogi Adityanath not to lecture to his state on development after BJP lost the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha by-elections in the northern state.They were closeted together for about 20 minutes. While what transpired between the two is not yet known, it is understood that the two discussed the poll outcome in which their parties together beat the ruling BJP.
3) Congress says people 'showing BJP the door': Buoyed by the results of the Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, the Opposition parties said that the verdict reflected "public anger" against the BJP and that it was the "beginning of the end" for the ruling party at the Centre."Congratulations to the winners of today's by-elections. It is clear from the results that voters have a lot of anger towards the BJP and will vote for any non-BJP candidate who has more chances of winning. The Congress is keen on rebuilding the party in Uttar Pradesh, but that will not happen overnight," he tweeted in Hindi. 4) Lalu says 'victory of truth over falsehood': RJD President Lalu Prasad, who is currently in jail following his conviction in the fodder scam cases, described his party's victory in the Bihar bypolls as the "victory of truth over falsehood".The RJD retained Araria Lok Sabha and Jehanabad Assembly seats in the by-elections for three seats in Bihar. The BJP retained Bhabhua Assembly seat. 5) Adityanath blames 'over-confidence' for BJP's loss: Once the outcome of the Uttar Pradesh bypolls 2018 became known, Adityanath said that "over-confidence and the inability to understand the understanding between SP and BSP" were the prime reasons for the BJP's shocking loss. The Chief Minister said that the Lok Sabha bye-election results were a "lesson" for the BJP and cause for a review. 6) 'Wait and watch': Refusing to comment on the possibility of an alliance between the SP and the BSP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav said, "Just wait and watch." Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Yadav said that the victory of the SP in both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha byeelections was a referendum against the Yogi government. 7) Congress claims BJP has lost simple majority in LS: As the BJP lost two Lok Sabha bypolls in UP and one in Bihar, the Congress said that the ruling party had "lost the simple majority in the Lok Sabha on its own". The Congress said that the results gave a clear message that the people were angry with the BJP for its "arrogance and misrule". 8) 'It's Nitish's time to offer an explanation': After the Bihar results, former deputy chief minister Tejashwi Yadav said that the people have given their verdict and it is Janata Dal (United) President Nitish Kumar's time to offer an explanation for his party's loss in the state bypolls. 10) Winning Gorakhpur and Phulpur was prestige issue for BJP: The results of Gorakhpur and Phulpur came as a shock to the BJP. Gorakhpur was vacated by Chief Minister Adityanath, who had been its representative since 1998; Phulpur fell vacant after his deputy, Keshav Prasad Maurya, quit it. Winning these was a prestige issue for the party.
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