Team Clarion
NEW DELHI – As a big setback to Samajwadi Party (SP), the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) registered its victory in the Lok Sabha bypolls of Rampur and Azamgarh on Sunday.
The Rampur parliamentary seat, which was vacated after the resignation of Azam Khan, was reportedly won by BJP candidate Ghanysham Lodhi by more than 40,000 votes defeating Asim Raja of Samajwadi Party. .
In Akhilesh Yadav’s home turf Azamgarh, BJP candidate Dinesh Lal ‘Nirhua’ won. SP had fielded Dharmendra Yadav from this seat. BSP fielded Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali from the seat.
Rampur and Azamgarh are the constituencies of SP’s two tallest leaders — Akhilesh Yadav and Mohd Azam Khan. Azamgarh was earlier held by SP president Akhilesh Yadav and he had resigned after winning the assembly polls in March.
However, he did not campaign in Azamgarh and this raised several questions in political circles even though Akhilesh Yadav’s cousin Dharmendra Yadav was the SP candidate.
He had also not allowed his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav to campaign in Azamgarh.
SP candidate of Azamgarh Dharmendra Yadav has, however, accused the administration of changing EVMs, according to media reports.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday termed the bypoll wins in Azamgarh and Rampur as historic and said it indicates wide-scale acceptance and support for the double engine governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh.
