UP Bypolls: Setback for Ruling BJP as SP Leading in Mainpuri, Rampur Sadar; RLD in Khatauli

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party candidate Dimple Yadav has taken a comfortable lead in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, while nominees of the RLD and the SP are ahead in the Khatauli and the Rampur Sadar seats respectively, according to trends for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

While Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, has taken a lead of about one lakh votes over her nearest rival BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya, RLD's Madan Bhaiya is leading by over 8,486 votes in Khatauli over the BJP's Rajkumar Saini, the Election Commission said.

Samajwadi Party candidate Asim Raja is leading from Rampur Sadar over the BJP's Akash Saxena by a margin of 4,737 votes.

Bypolls for these seats were held on December 5.

Recalling that Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said the bypoll results will be an indication of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, SP state president Naresh Uttam said trends now show that the SP will be ahead in the next parliamentary polls.

"Despite the misuse of official machinery, Dimple Yadav is winning by a record margin. This shows people are fed up with the BJP misrule," he said.

In a tweet, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Singh Yadav thanked the people of Mainpuri and also his Assembly constituency Jaswant Nagar, which lies in it.

"We have taken a lead of one lakh and it will be historic as many rounds are left," he said.

The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant after the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, had registered 54.01% voting.

The Khatauli Assembly segment had recorded 56.46% polling on December 5 while Rampur Sadar had seen a low 33%.

Bypolls in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli were necessitated due to the disqualification of SP MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini following their conviction by separate courts in different matters.

Following defeats in Azamgarh and the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll, considered the SP's bastions, the Mainpuri parliamentary and the Rampur and Khatauli Assembly by-elections have become important for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party and his ally RLD.

Though the outcome of the bypolls would not make much difference to the government at the Centre as well as in Uttar Pradesh as the BJP has a comfortable majority at both places, a win would give a psychological advantage to the winner in the run-up to the 2024 general election.

Odisha

The ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) extended its lead to 15,541 votes over the BJP after the eighth round of counting for the by-poll to the Padampur Assembly seat in Odisha’s Bargarh district on Thursday, an official said.

Barsha Singh Bariha, the daughter of late MLA Bijay Ranjan Singh Bariha, whose death necessitated the by-poll, got 43,691 votes, while the BJP’s Pradip Purohit bagged 28,150 votes.

In the fourth round, the BJD nominee was leading by 8,178 votes.

Congress candidate Satya Bhusan Sahu bagged 1,634 votes.

Altogether there were 10 candidates in the fray.

A high turnout of 81.29% was recorded in Padampur during the by-election held on Monday.

Rajasthan

The Congress is leading in the Sardarshahar Assembly seat in Rajasthan's Churu district, according to trends available for the bypoll on Thursday morning

In the initial round, the Congress has got 6,853 votes followed by the BJP with 3,862 votes, and Rashtriya Loktantrik Party of Nagaur MP Hanuman Beniwal with 3,007 votes, according to the Election Commission.

The constituency recorded a voting percentage of 72.09% on polling day on Monday.

A total of 2,89,843 voters were eligible to exercise their franchise in the bypoll necessitated by the demise of Congress MLA Bhanwar Lal Sharma, who passed away on October 9 after a prolonged illness.

Polling was held amid tight security arrangements across all 295 booths in the Assembly segment.

The Congress fielded Sharma's son Anil Kumar while former MLA Ashok Kumar is the BJP candidate.

Bihar

The opposition BJP is leading in the by-election to the Kurhani Assembly constituency in the Muzaffarpur district of Bihar after the fourth round of counting on Thursday.

According to information shared by CEO officials, the BJP's Kedar Gupta was ahead with a margin of 941 over his nearest JD(U) rival Manoj Singh Kushwaha.

While Gupta secured 15,493 votes, Kushwaha got 14,552 after the fourth round of counting. 

Altogether 13 candidates, five of them Independents, are in the fray though the contest is being seen, primarily, as between Gupta and Kushwaha. Both are former MLAs.

Chhattisgarh

Counting of votes for byelection to the Bhanupratappur Assembly seat in Chhattisgarh began at 8 am on Thursday with the ruling Congress eyeing to retain the tribal-dominated constituency.

A voter turnout of 71.74% was recorded in the bypoll held on December 5 for the seat, reserved for Scheduled Tribe candidates and located in the Maoist-affected Kanker district.

The bypoll in Bhanupratappur was necessitated following the death of Congress MLA and deputy speaker of Assembly Manoj Singh Mandavi on October 16.

Though seven contestants were in the fray, the main fight was between the ruling Congress and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

The Congress fielded Savitri Mandavi, the wife of late MLA Manoj Singh Mandavi, while the BJP nominated former legislator Brahmanand Netam.

The Sarva Adivasi Samaj, an umbrella body of tribal communities in Bastar, also fielded its candidate, former Indian Police Service (IPS) officer Akbar Ram Korram, who contested as an independent.