In Kushinagar’s Fazilanagar, turncoat Swami Maurya lost to BJP’s Surendra Khushwaha by more than 30,000 votes.
Several big-wigs of parties like the BJP, BSP, SP and the Congress bit dust in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the results of which were declared on Thursday. Some of them are:
Suresh Rana (BJP)
Sitting MLA and the minister in charge of sugarcane development and sugar mills Suresh Rana lost the election 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 the 2013 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
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 also one of the accused in Muzaffarnagar riots.
Som was previously the president of the 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 (Cong)
Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu fell short of a hat-trick after losing to BJP’s Asim Kumar in Tamkuhi Raj constituency. Lallu 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, Lallu’s loss will deal a huge blow to the party’s political prospects. His loss comes in the wake of Priyanka Gandhi throwing weight behind the candidate and even rode pillion with Lallu during a visit to the constituency. The locals rejected Lallu in favour of Bhumihar leader Asim.
Satish Chandra Dwivedi (BJP)
Basic Education Minister Satish Dwivedi lost to veteran SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey with a margin of 4000 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.
Satish Chandra is the second cabinet minister to have lost in the assembly elections. SP leader Pandey had stood third in the previous elections.
Swami Prasad Maurya (SP)
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. He was even made BSP national general secretary.
Maurya later joined the BJP, just before the 2017 polls, claiming that he was impressed with the work done by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the “weaker sections” of the society.
