It’s party time for victorious SP

The winning trend became clear in the first half-an-hour itself. After an hour,the SP was leading in 110 seats. That was when the celebrations began,amidst beating of drums and victorious slogans.

But there were some anxious moments,as the BSP and Congress gained some ground. For some time,it looked like the SP’s victory march would halt at around 160-170 seats,giving some bargaining power to other parties.

Within two hours,however,there was no uncertainty and the SP regained momentum. The celebrations erupted once again. The crowds kept swelling,groups of traders arrived. An organisation,called the Pasmanda Muslim Samaj,put up a stall and distributed 1.25 quintals of laddoos.

Some,including Mulayam’s nephew and MP from Badaun Dharmendra Yadav,broke into an impromptu dance. Akhilesh’s team members also joined in the celebrations.

There were slogans hailing Akhilesh as the architect of the party’s victory. Soon,both Mulayam Singh Yadav and Akhilesh,who were at their residence barely 200 metres away,arrived. A short while later,party leaders Anuradha Choudhary,Ahmed Hasan and Kamal Farooqui arrived and congratulated the father-son duo.

Amidst the chaos,Akhilesh expressed his thanks to the voters and workers. “We thank the voters from our heart who have given us such overwhelming support. Our workers toiled hard and it was not possible without their hard work,” he said.

Asked who would be the chief minister,Akhilesh replied: “Netaji’’. “People were fed up with the BSP regime,” said Dharmendra. On the SP’s poll promises,he said: “It is not a challenge but our responsibility and we know how to fulfill our responsibility.”