SP, Congress stun BJP in Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan

Samajwadi Party

Lucknow/Jaipur: The Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), which suffered a rout in the general elections, bounced back in the assembly by-polls in Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh.

Pedalling their way through: Samajwadi Party (SP) workers celebrate the party's victory at the Uttar Pradesh by-polls in Allahabad on Tuesday. Pic/PTI

Buoyed by the performance of the SP, which won eight of the 11 assembly seats yesterday, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said he was happy that the people of the state had reposed faith in his party and given thumbs
down to the ‘communal' politics of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

"We are happy and thankful that people have preferred development and prosperity over false hopes and communal politics that BJP practised," he said.

The BJP, which had won all the 11 seats in the 2012 assembly elections, managed to retain just three of those seats.

The BJP faced a similar fate in Rajasthan, as it managed to save only one of the four seats in Kota South constituency. The Congress candidates won from Weir, Surajgarh and Nasirabad constituencies.

An upbeat Sachin Pilot, Rajasthan state president for Congress, described yesterday's victory as ‘a win of our party workers'.

"Despite the use of official machinery by the BJP, we have won. The BJP did nothing since it came to power.

On the contrary, it stopped the social welfare schemes," Pilot said. He added that the party was now looking forward to the municipal and panchayat polls in the state, which are due in the next few months.

Commenting on the party's loss, Kailash Nath Bhatt Rajasthan state spokesperson for the BJP, said, "This result does not reflect the performance of the (Vasundhara) Raje government. It was fought more on local issues. Yes, the party will sit and introspect
on the results."