UP polls: BJP MLA who did sit-ups, gave body massage to voter, retains seat

Lucknow: A BJP MLA, who was seen doing sit-ups and giving a massage to a voter during the Uttar Pradesh Assembly poll campaigns, has retained his seat, official results showed.

Bhupesh Chaubey from Robertsganj constituency in Sonbhadra district secured 84,496 (or 40.29 per cent) of the total votes counted, defeating his nearest rival, Avinash Kushwaha of the Samajwadi Party (SP) by over 5,600 votes, according to the Election Commission website.

Kushwaha got 78,875 (or 37.61 per cent) of the total 2.09 lakh votes that were counted on the seat, according to the Election Commission.

A total of 10 candidates were in the fray for the Assembly poll from Robertsganj, including Chaubey, who had won the constituency election in 2017 to become a first-time MLA.

The 47-year-old BJP MLA had hogged the limelight during poll campaigns after he was seen doing sit-ups holding his ears from the stage of an election rally, in a bid to seek “forgiveness” of the voters of his constituency.

A few days later, while on a door-to-door campaign, he was seen giving a massage to an elderly voter, who was apparently having a pain in his legs and lower back. Chaubey had met him and applied ointment on his body.

While videos of both the events went viral on television and social media, he also became the butt of a joke with even SP chief Akhilesh Yadav taking a dig at the BJP in his rallies over Chaubey’s acts.

The BJP has retained power in Uttar Pradesh winning a majority of the 403 seats and is set to form the government with Yogi Adityanath at the helm of affairs once again.