Big boost to INDIA coming from UP; SP trounces former leader fielded by BJP

Making the victory doubly sweet for the SP was the fact that its candidate Sudhakar Singh was up against Dara Singh Chauhan, who had left the SP for the BJP after winning last year on the SP ticket.

Chauhan was seen as heading for greener pastures when he resigned as SP MLA to join the BJP. There was talk of the influential OBC leader of eastern UP being accommodated as a minister in the Yogi Adityanath government if he won. The defeat leaves him nowhere.

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On the ground, there was perceptible anger over Chauhan’s frequent party hopping. Earlier, he had left the BJP to join the SP just before the 2022 Assembly polls, amidst talk that the SP may be in a position to win the state. As an SP nominee, he had defeated the BJP candidate in the 2022 polls by a respectable margin of 22,216 votes. Earlier, he was in the BSP too.

The SP got over 58% of the votes cast in the bypoll, up from 42% in Ghosi seat in the 2022 Assembly polls. This indicates that its candidate Sudhakar Singh, a Rajput leader and former MLA, got the votes, including of Dalits, that went to the BSP in 2022 (the party, which had got 21% of the votes then, did not field a candidate in the bypoll), besides the Muslim vote.

With fewer parties in the fray, the BJP also got more votes in the bypoll – around 38%, compared to 33% in 2022 – but it was hardly enough to stop the SP’s march.

Seeing the fight as a prestige clash, particularly after the INDIA formation, the BJP had put its top leaders – across castes — on the job in Ghosi, with the Chief Minister too pitching in. BJP state president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary and Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak camped in the constituency for a week, while Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya frequently toured the seat.

Besides, over 20 BJP ministers and leaders of its allies also chipped in, including of the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal). SBSP president Om Prakash Rajbhar camped in Ghosi for 18 days, in a bid to woo the Rajbhar (OBC) and Dalit votes.

BJP leaders admitted that Chauhan’s image of frequently changing parties and also being an “outsider” had hurt the party. Though he won in 2022 from the seat, Chauhan does not belong to Ghosi and is originally from Azamgarh. “But Sudhakar is a local. This factor worked. Sudhakar is always available to local people, of every caste and community. Also, Sudhakar got sympathy votes as many, especially upper castes, felt the SP let him down by not giving him a ticket from Ghosi and choosing Chauhan in 2022,” said a local BJP leader.

Sources said Chauhan’s candidature faced opposition from a large section of local BJP workers as well. “He is the same person who had left the BJP after getting a five-year term as minister in the first Adityanath government (2017-22). After joining the SP, he targeted BJP leaders and workers. During the 2022 Assembly polls, SP workers and his supporters misbehaved with BJP workers as they expected an SP government after the polls,” a BJP leader said, admitting that while they obeyed party orders and campaigned for Chauhan in the bypoll, their heart was not in it.

According to the BJP leader, Chauhan had even complained to the party high command over local leaders not cooperating with him.

Another BJP leader said SBSP leader Rajbhar’s statements focused on OBCs may have further rallied upper caste voters behind Sudhakar.

An SP leader in Ghosi said the BJP’s high-profile campaign for a small bypoll also helped build sympathy for Sudhakar against the “outsider” Chauhan. “The movement of ministers’ SUVs with hooters in the small Ghosi town spread the impression that the BJP was spending huge money in support of a party-hopper,” the leader said.

The BJP’s bid to woo the Dalit vote by invoking the state guest house incident of 1995, when SP leaders had attempted to attack BSP leader Mayawati as their alliance fell apart, too does not seem to have worked.

Sensing the anger against Chauhan, Adityanath himself had made a public appeal to counter it, saying: “Subeh ka bhoola agar sham ko ghar wapas aa jaye, toh woh bhoola nahin hota hai. Yeh Dara Singh Chauhan wapas apne ghar me aaye hain (If someone makes a mistake but chooses to return to the right path, he is not considered lost. Chauhan too has returned to his home).”

The CM also appealed to the people to not show “sahanubhooti (sympathy)” (for Sudhakar).

After the result, BJP UP chief Chaudhary admitted the results were not as per the expectations of the party, adding: “I want to ask the Opposition, after this result, will they raise questions over EVMs, the government machinery, constitutional institutions and the Election Commission?”

In a statement, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said the party’s Ghosi win had shattered “the arrogance of the BJP”, and was a hint regarding how the 2024 Lok Sabha results will turn out. “This is the beginning of the BJP’s countdown,” Akhilesh said, adding that UP would again show the way to the rest of the country.

In a swipe at Chauhan and SBSP Rajbhar, Yadav said: “Only one MLA has won, but future ministers of various parties have lost.”

RLD president Jayant Chaudhary congratulated the voters of Ghosi for “encouraging INDIA” with the Ghosi result. In a post on social media, he also wished Akhilesh and Sudhakar Singh.

The UP Congress said the SP’s win showed that people were fed up with the BJP’s “anti-people policies and market of hatred”. “They have made up their mind to bid farewell to the BJP in 2024.”