Bypoll beating for Cong, boost for SP

The ties between the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have taken a fresh jolt with the former putting up an impressive performance in the by-election to one Lok Sabha and 12 Assembly seats in the state. The Congress, which has been targetting Chief

Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav over law and order in the state, had been functioning like an opposition party in the run-up to the bypolls.

The Congress not only failed to retain Ghaziabad and Iglas Assembly seats which it had won in the 2002 Assembly elections, its candidates lost their deposits in the remaining nine constituencies.

The Congress vote share in these constituencies ranged between two and 14 per cent. The party lost its deposit in Ahirori, Iglas, Atrauli, Mujehna, Mariahu, Siddhaur, Allahabad West, Saidpur and Milkipur. In Ghaziabad and Baghra, the Congress had the consolation of finishing second behind the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal.