Mamata expresses delight at UP bypoll results.
Trinamool Congress chief and West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday hailed SP-BSP alliance for win in UP Assembly bypolls. Although the official results are yet to be declared, SP looks set to win both Phulpur and Gorakhpur.
Very few experts gave SP a chance to win in Gorkakhpur where Yogi Adityanath has been a MP for five terms. Most expected a keen contest in Phulpur, but in the end it looks like an easy victory for SP there too. BSP has not fielded any candidates in these by-polls and declared support to Samajwadi Party. TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee has been one of the most prominent anti-Modi critic. So clearly, the trends showing BJP reversal of fortune in UP was hailed by her. Here's what she tweeted:
Mamata Banerjee also praised Lalu Prasad Yadav for impressive performance in Bihar bypolls.
Candidates of the Samajwadi Party consolidated their leads over nearest BJP rivals in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, latest trends showed.
The Samajwadi Party had an electoral understanding with Mayawati's BSP and tied up with local satraps. Its candidate Pravin Nishad was leading over Upendra Dutt Shukla of BJP by 26,510 votes in Gorakhpur at the end of 17th round of counting. In Phulpur too, SP candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel was leading by 29,474 votes after 20th round of counting. With some more rounds of counting still being left, the overall picture appeared that the electorate did not back the saffron party ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election.
The bypolls were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively, following their election to the state legislative council.
Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya admitted that they didn't expect BSP-SP alliance to work so well on ground. However he vowed that BJP will comeback with a strategy to defeat the grand alliance in 2019.
With PTI inputs
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