Haji Yaqub Qureshi, Mulayam Singh Yadav’s rebel minister who hit the headlines for the Rs 50-crore reward on the head of Danish cartoonists who offended Muslim sentiments, has managed to win the Meerut city seat by a whisker. In fact, Qureshi defeated sitting BJP MLA Laxmi Kant Vajpayee by just 1,089 votes, making the seat the only one in the kitty of his fledgling United Democratic Front ticket.

Qureshi polled 48,502 votes despite the Samajwadi Party’s best efforts to spoil it for him. SP had fielded Dilshad Munna who secured 17,505 votes. The BSP’s Vinay Kurali managed just 11, 356 votes .

But it was not all good news for Qureshi, who lost to the BSP in Kharkhauda. He had won the seat last time. This time the BSP had fielded Gurjar politician Lakhi Ram Nagar. Nagar secured 62,464 votes against Yaqub’s 35,045 votes. The RLD candidate, Satya Vir Tyagi, polled 25,012 votes.