Maya sees LS triumph as party sweeps Uttar Pradesh bypolls

While the Azamgarh and Khalilabad Lok Sabha seats and the Bilgram Assembly seat were retained by the BSP, the party wrested the Colonelganj Assembly seat from the Congress and Murad Nagar from an Independent. Both Congress and BJP candidates lost their security deposits in four seats, while the SP nominee lost his deposit in the Murad Nagar Assembly seat. With the wins, the BSP’s strength in the 403-member UP Vidhan Sabha has risen to 215.

In Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, Akbar ‘Dumpy’ Ahmed of BSP defeated his nearest rival BJP candidate Ramkant Yadav by 54,251 votes. SP candidate Balram Yadav finished third. In Khalilabad Lok Sabha seat, BSP’s Bhism Shanker alias Kushal Tiwari defeated SP’s Bhal Chand Yadav by 64,632 votes. Both Ramakant Yadav and Bhal Chand Yadav had been disqualified under 10th Schedule of the Constitution for joining the SP during the UP Assembly elections in 2007. However, after the SP refused to give a ticket to Ramkant, he switched over to the BJP at the last moment.

In Bilgram Assembly constituency, BSP candidate Rajni Tiwari defeated her nearest rival SP candidate Vishram Singh Yadav by 38,168 votes. In Colonelganj, BSP nominee Brij Singh, alias Brij Kunwari, defeated SP’s Yogesh Pratap Singh by 9,737 votes. In Murad Nagar, Rajpal Tyagi defeated his nearest Rashtriya Lok Dal rival nominee Ayub Khan by 6,853 votes.

She claimed the Opposition had ganged up against the BSP, but still failed to cause any damage. Training her guns at the SP chief, Mayawati said: “Mulayam Singh Yadav campaigned for several times in each seat with a troupe of film stars, but still his party drew a blank”.

The SP, BJP and the Congress, however, blamed their defeat on the misuse of official machinery by the ruling party. SP spokesman Rajendra Chowdhary, while claiming that the BSP had misused official machinery, said the results were not a reflection of the BSP’s support base.

Echoing the sentiments, BJP spokesman...