It may be too early to say whether UP is going the Bihar way. But after humiliating the ruling Samajwadi Party in the by-elections to two Assembly seats, BSP chief Mayawati is already calling it the ‘‘countdown of the goondaraj’’. In Sant Ravi Das Nagar’s Aurai, Rita Singh, wife of jailed ex-SP MLA, Udai Bhan Singh, lost to BSP’s Rangnath Mishra by 5,530 votes—the BSP got 64,982 against SP’s 59,452. In Saharanpur’s Nagal, RLD candidate Rajnish, backed by SP, lost by 31,324 votes to Satto Devi, wife of the late Ilam Singh, who was a BSP MLA. Mayawati said, ‘‘The people are adamant that they will clean up the system. Mulayam Singh Yadav used all his mafia power to win the by-election but lost. He should now resign before the people drag him out.’’The BSP’s move to woo Brahmins by holding mahasabhas for them seem to have borne fruit. ‘‘In Aurai, of the total 50,000 Dalit voters, 20,000 in urban areas successfully cast their votes. Besides, our candidate, being a Brahmin, got the support of about 40,000 Brahmin voters,’’ Chhotelal, BSP leader, told The Indian Express.
