UP Bypolls: BJP Comfortably Wins 6 of 7 Seats; SP Gets Malhani

Except for Malhani, the BJP currently leads in all other constituencies as of 1:15pm.

Counting is on in seven Assembly seats in UP - Naugawan Sadat, Bulandshahr, Tundla, Bangermau, Ghatamour, Deoria and Malhani.

(Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) currently has a comfortable lead in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly bypolls, as it leads in six of the seven constituencies.

Counting of votes for 58 Assembly constituencies across 11 states is underway on Tuesday, 10 November, alongside the Bihar Assembly polls. This includes seven seats in UP – Naugawan Sadat, Bulandshahr, Tundla, Bangermau, Ghatamour, Deoria, and Malhani.

The BJP has won the Naugawan Sadat, Deoria, Bangermau, Tundla and Ghatampur, and Bulandshahr seats while Samajwadi Party’s Lucky Yadav has been declared the winner of the Malhani constituency seat.

With the Yogi Adityanath government facing a great deal of flak for its handling of the Hathras rape case, farm laws and job crisis, the bypolls have become a prestige battle for chief minister.

Seats: Who is Winning?

1. Bangarmau

District: Unnao

Winner: Shrikant Katiyar - BJP

Katiyar has won the seat by a margin of 31, 398 votes over closest rival, Congress’ Arti Bajpai. He won with a vote share of 40.98 percent.

The BJP had never won the seat until Kuldeep Sengar shifted to the party and won in 2017. The Jan Sangh had won the seat 50 years earlier, in 1967.

2. Ghatampur (SC)

District: Kanpur

Winner: Upendra Paswan - BJP

BJP’s Paswan has won the seat by a margin of 23, 820 votes and a vote share percent of 38.36.

Like Bangarmau, the BJP had never won the Ghatampur seat until the 2017 wave.

3. Malhani

District: Jaunpur

Winner: Lucky Yadav - SP

Malhani is the only seat where BJP hasn’t won. SP’s Lucky Yadav has been declared the winner by a margin of 4,632 votes over independent candidate Dhananjay Singh.

This was the only non-BJP seat among the seven constituencies that will vote in the bypolls. The seat was held by veteran Samajwadi Party leader and seven-term MLA Parasnath Yadav, who passed away in June this year. The SP has fielded his son Lucky Yadav from the seat.

4. Deoria

District: Deoria

Winner: Satya Prakash Mani - BJP

BJP’s Satya Prakash Mani, knows as Guddu Babu, has defeated SP’s Brahamashankar Tripathi by 20,089 votes.

All the four major parties have fielded Brahmin candidates from Deoria. In fact, all four are Tripathis. This is considered a relatively stronger seat for the BJP as it has won it in 2012 as well as in 2017, besides in 1991 and 1993.

5. Naugawan Sadat

District: Amroha

Leading: Sangeeta Chauhan - BJP

Trailing: Javed Abbas - SP

A neck and neck fight in this constituency where BJP’s Sangeeta Chauhan regained her lead after a sea-saw battle. She eventually defeated SP’s Abbas by 15,077 votes.

The seat became vacant after the death of BJP leader and former cricketer Chetan Chauhan. This is one of the seats where Shia Muslims have a sizeable presence.

6. Tundla (SC)

District: Firozabad

Winner: Prempal Dhangar -BJP

BJP’s Prempal Dhangar has emerged victorious by a margin of 17, 683 votes over SP’s Maharaj Singh Dhangar.

The seat fell vacant after sitting MLA SP Singh Baghel was elected to the Lok Sabha from Agra. Both the BJP and SP candidates hail from the Dhangar/Gadderia or the shepherd community.

7. Bulandshahr

District: Bulandshahr

Winner: Usha Sirohi - BJP

BJP’s Usha Sirohi has won by a margin of 21,702 votes over BSP’s Mohammad Yunus. BJP emerged victorious with a vote share of 43.81 percent.

The SP hasn't fielded a candidate in this seat, it is supporting the RLD nominee. Like Naugawan Sadat, the BJP has fielded the wife of the deceased MLA in this seat.

Bypolls Under Shadow of Two Rape Cases, Farm Laws

The shadow of the Hathras alleged rape and murder case is looming large over the by-elections to seven Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh. There's another rape case that's important in the bypoll in at least one seat – Bangarmau, which was vacated by suspended BJP MLA Kuldeep Sengar after he was convicted of rape.

With the Yogi Adityanath government facing a great deal of flak for its handling of the case, the bypolls have become a prestige battle for chief minister.

The bypolls, held on 3 November, are also crucial for the Opposition parties, which have tried to put the Bharatiya Janata Party on the mat over the Hathras case, the new farm laws, and the job crisis.

It will be crucial to see which party among the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Congress emerges as the main challenger to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh in the bypolls.