UP bypolls: BJP trails in Yogi's Gorakhpur, Dy CM Maurya's Phulpur

Lucknow: Candidates of the ruling BJP were trailing in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh after several rounds of counting for the parliamentary by-elections. Praveen Nishad of Samajwadi Party is leading by 19,201 votes in Gorakhpur over BJP at the end of 14th round of counting while another SP candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel leading by 27,627 votes in Phulpur after 16th round of counting. 

The trends had an echo in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, when the Leader of the Opposition Ram Gobind Chaudhary pointed out to the Chair that media persons were being barred from entering the counting centre in Gorakhpur, and described it as “murder of democracy”. 

Amid uproarious scenes created by jubilant SP members, Speaker Hriday Narayan Dixit adjourned the House briefly. Gorakhpur DM Rautela, however, said that there was no such ban on the entry of media at the counting centre. 

Ten nominees are in the fray from Gorakhpur, while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur. The bypolls were necessitated after Adityanath and his Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the state legislative council. Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP with Adityanath representing the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Before him, his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath was MP from the seat.

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.