UP bypolls: BJP trails in Gorakhpur, Phulpur

Lucknow: The BJP is leading in the bypoll for Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat and Samajwadi Party is ahead in Phulpur. Samajwadi Party’s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel is leading by 14,239 against BJP’s Kaushlendra Singh Patel in Phulpur. SP candidate Pravin Nishad is reportedly leading by 4,000 votes from Gorakhpur. 

The saffron party had fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur. The SP had fielded Pravin Nishad from Gorakhpur and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel from Phulpur. The Congress had nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur.

Considered as a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the bypoll saw a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party supported by BSP and the Congress. The voter turnout was 47.45 percent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 percent in Phulpur in Sunday’s polling. Ten nominees were in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur.

According to the EC, there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur Parliamentary constituency, while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has 19.49 lakh voters. The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the state legislative council.

After casting his vote in Gorakhpur, Adityanath had claimed that the BJP was getting a widespread support from the people, while Maurya had said his party would win both the seats. Adityanath had also called the BSP-SP partnership for the bypolls an “unholy alliance”.

“The voters will reject this opportunistic, unethical and unholy alliance,” he had said. On the other hand, Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav had said it (polling day) was a day to “change and re-write history”. Termed by Adityanath a “rehearsal” for the 2019 Lok Sabha election, the bypolls saw a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP, the SP and the Congress.

Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath, the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor, Yogi Avaidyanath.

Phulpur, once represented by the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Maurya won the seat. Meanwhile, in Gorakhpur, District Magistrate Rajiv Routela said as per EC instructions, there will be restrictions on victory processions after the results.