LUCKNOW: The recently concluded Ghosi assembly bypoll resulted in a resounding victory for the main opposition Samajwadi Party, dealing a major blow to the ministerial aspirations of BJP candidate Dara Singh Chauhan and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar, who was a key campaigner for Chauhan after returning to the NDA fold.
Rajbhar had dropped hints that he and Chauhan may be inducted into the Yogi cabinet after his return to the NDA.
However, the senior BJP leaders have distanced themselves from the defeat in Ghosi, claiming that the by-election was not contested on any issues concerning the BJP governments in the state or at the Centre. They have also denied that it was a contest between India and the NDA or the BJP and SP.
Rajbhar was unavailable for comment after the results were announced. In his initial reaction to the outcome, he appeared disappointed and said that opposition parties would no longer be able to blame or question the EVMs for poll results.
However, he came under ridicule from Samajwadi Party leaders, who put up a hoarding in front of their party office in the state capital cautioning all political parties against Rajbhar, calling him a spent force who should not be given undue importance.
BJP state vice president and MLC Vijay Pathak said that the party would scrutinize the poll results and take corrective measures accordingly. Meanwhile, the Dalit voters appeared to have played a decisive role in SP candidate Sudhakar Singh’s victory, despite Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati’s call to her party supporters to stay away from polling or opt for NOTA.
Ghosi has a significant number of SC voters, who are 90,000 of the total 4.5 lakh electorate of the eastern UP assembly segment. In the 2022 assembly election, Dara Singh Chauhan, as an SP candidate, had polled 1,08,430 votes, while BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Rajbhar got 86,214 votes. Chauhan won by 22,216 votes.
In the bypoll, Sudhakar Singh got 1,24,427 votes, while Chauhan got 81,668 votes as a BJP nominee, losing by 42,759 votes. In the 2022 assembly election, BSP candidate Vasim Ekbal polled 53,953 votes in the constituency.
The SP candidate got more votes in the 2023 bypoll in comparison to the 2022 assembly election. This has led the SP leaders to conclude that their candidate had drawn a chunk of Dalit votes as well, ignoring BSP chief Mayawati’s call to keep away from voting.