UP Assembly elections: Deputy CM Maurya & turncoat Maurya among big losers

Maurya lost to Pallavi Patel, the Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) leader who fought on an SP ticket, in Sirathu. He lost by 7,337 votes. Sirathu, which comes under the Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency, was once by Sonelal Patel, Pallavi’s father.

Maurya, an important OBC face of the party, has been closely associated with the RSS. He won his first Assembly elections in 2012 and went on to become an MP from Phoolpur and a minister in the Union Cabinet.

Suresh Rana

Sitting MLA and Sugarcane Minister Suresh Rana lost the elections to RLD’s Ashraf Ali in Thana Bhawan. The constituency, which has a mix of Jat, Gurjar and Muslim population, favoured the alliance candidate with a margin of more than 13,000 votes. Rana faced anti-incumbency sentiment while looking to repeat MLA term for the third time. He was also one of the accused in Muzaffarnagar riots. Locals in the area alleged that the ruling party did not deliver payment of sugarcane dues in the manner which was promised. Several people held Rana responsible for pending payments and exploitative actions of local mills. Ashraf Ali came close to winning in 2012 when he lost by merely 265 votes to Rana.

Despite protests by Samajwadi Party supporters for not giving ticket to SP leader Sher Singh Rana, the alliance benefitted from giving the seat to an RLD candidate.

Sangeet Som

A close contest for several rounds, BJP MLA Sangeet Som eventually lost to SP’s Atul Pradhan by more than 15,000 votes in Sardhana constituency. This was Sangeet’s third election after having won the seat twice in a row. Som was one of the accused in Muzaffarnagar riots.

A known local leader who fought in pradhan elections and two assembly polls, unsuccessfully, managed to secure a victory. He was previously the president of the state student unit of Samajwadi Party.  It is a crucial victory for the alliance since SP has never won an election on this seat.

Ajay Kumar Lallu

Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu fell short of a hat trick after losing to BJP’s Asim Kumar in Tamkuhi Raj constituency. Ajay has been leading Congress campaigns in the state for several years now, has faced multiple cases in connection with organised agitations and is the most visible face for the party in the state.

With Congress reduced to two seats in the state, Ajay’s loss will deal a huge blow to the party’s political prospects. Lallu’s loss comes in the wake of Priyanka Gandhi throwing weight behind the candidate and even rode pillion with Ajay Lallu during a visit to the constituency. The locals rejected Ajay Lallu in favour of Bhumihar leader Asim.

Satish Chandra Dwivedi

Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi lost to veteran SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey with a margin of 1,000 votes in Siddharthnagar’s Itwa. Mata Prasad has been elected MLA from the seat six times, with his first election win dating back to 1985.

Swami Prasad Maurya

In Kushinagar’s Fazilanagar, turncoat Swami Maurya lost to BJP’s Surendra Khushwaha by more than 30,000 votes. Swami, spent a career taking on the SP — for two decades as a member of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the last five years in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), as a Cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath-led government.

He was once a close confidant of BSP chief Mayawati was made minister thrice during BSP rule and  was also Leader of Opposition every time the BSP was out of power.  Maurya later joined the BJP, just before the 2017 polls.