The BJP scored a zero in the bypolls to three Lok Sabha constituencies, two in U.P. and one in Bihar. The Samajwadi Party wrested the Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies in U.P., while the RJD retained the Araria seat in Bihar.
Results of two Bihar Assembly bypolls too were announced on March 14. While the RJD won the Jehanabad seat, the BJP retained the Bhabhua constituency.
The Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency was once a stronghold of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Ten nominees were in the fray in in Gorakhpur and 22 in Phulpur. Mr. Adityanath has represented the Gorakhpur seat five times.Before him, his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath held the seat.
Phulpur, once represented by the country’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election and Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya won the seat.
Here are the updates:
8:00 p.m.: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has reached BSP supremo Mayawati's residence in Lucknow.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav reaches BSP chief Mayawati's residence in Lucknow on Wednesday.
7.10 p.m.: Praveen Nishad of the SP wins Gorakhpur seat by 21,961 votes .
7.00 p.m.: The Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-election results are a “lesson”, says Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, citing over-confidence and the inability to understand the equation between the SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) as prime reasons for the BJP’s defeat.
6.40 p.m.: SP chief Akhilesh Yadav thanks BSP leader Mayawati for her support on both Lok Sabha seats.
Mr. Akhilesh Yadav attributes the Samajwadi Party's win in the bypolls to the support from the Dalits, farmers, labourers, women and the unemployed, saying that it is a victory for social justice.
“Governments which trouble people are brought down, this government brought problems and led to fear among the people,” says Mr. Akhilesh.
This is a mandate against both the Centre and State governments, people have come together to bring "bad days” for the BJP, says Mr. Akhilesh Yadav.
6.00 p.m.: Congress president Rahul Gandhi has congratulated the winners in U.P. bypolls. “Congratulations to the winners of today’s by-elections. It is clear from the results that voters have a lot of anger towards the BJP and will vote for any non-BJP candidate who has more chances of winning,” he tweets in Hindi. “The Congress is keen on rebuilding the party in Uttar Pradesh, but that will not happen overnight.”
5.45 p.m.: Samajwadi Party’s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel defeats BJP’s Kaushlendra Singh Patel by 59,460 votes to win Phulpur Lok Sabha bypoll, PTI reports quoting an Election Commission official.
5.40 p.m.: U.P. CM Yogi Adityanath says he accepts “the verdict of the people”. “This result is unexpected, we will review the shortcomings. I congratulate the winning candidates,” ANI reports. PTI quotes Mr. Adityanath as saying: “BJP’s performance in two Lok Sabha by-elections is lesson for us.”
5.35 p.m.: RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam wins the Araria Lok Sabha seat defeating BJP’s Pradeep Kumar Singh by a margin of 57358 votes.
4.45 p.m.: Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut claims SP leader Naresh Agrawal’s induction cost the BJP dearly in U.P. “I don’t consider that the SP-BSP tie up has worked. I believe that Lord Ram was angry with you (the BJP) the day you (the BJP) rolled out the red carpet for the SP leader, who has criticised Lord Ram,” he says. - PTI
4:15 p.m.: Even as results are coming in for Araria, BJP's Pradeep Singh congratulated his rival Sarfaraj Alam of the RJD. Mr. Singh also said internal sabotage by local party leaders was the reason for his defeat. He said the party will review their performance and take proper action against those leaders.
3.30 p.m.: RJD in Araria leads by over 40,000 votes.
2 p.m.: After 14 of 35 rounds in Phulpur, the SP has 1,55,314 votes while the BJP has received 1,34,819 votes. Praveen Nishad of SP extends margin by 14,648 votes in Gorakhpur over BJP at the end of ninth round of counting.
1.25 p.m.: In Araria, after the ninth round, RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam has taken a comfortable lead of 16,000 votes over BJP candidate Pradeep Singh.
1.15 p.m.: In the eighth round in Araria, RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam takes lead of 3,556 votes over his rival BJP candidate Pradeep Singh. NOTA has received 4,000 votes so far.
1.05 p.m.: After Round 11 in Phulpur, SP has 1,22,247 votes and BJP has secured 1,06,534 votes. SP looks to be running away with it in Phulpur. In 2014 BJP's Keshav Prasad Maurya, now a deputy CM in UP, had won by over 3 lakh votes, securing more than 50 per cent. Congress a distant fourth in Phulpur with 5,668 votes only.
12.55 p.m.: In a neck-and-neck contest in Araria, the BJP candidate Pradeep Singh has again taken lead of 6,605 votes over his rival Sarfaraj Alam of RJD.
12.50 p.m.: RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav said: "10 rounds counting done in Araria, RJD is leading by margin but administration just showing results of three rounds. Why is that? How long they will hide the defeat of BJP and Nitish Kumar."
12.30 p.m.: SP leads by 3760 votes after 5 rounds, party has 74077 votes so far. SP complained to the Election Commission, alleging that the district administration in Gorakhpur is trying to ensure a BJP win through foul play. “The district administration is working under the pressure of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and throwing out SP observers and journalists from counting zones to ensure that the BJP wins,” said the letter signed by Naresh Uttam Patel, UP Samajwadi Party president.
12.15 p.m.: RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam leads by 1,379 votes over BJP candidate Pradeep Singh in Araria Lok Sabha seat.
12.10 p.m.: In Phulpur, SP leads by over 12,000 votes. The counting in Gorakhpur is slow. After three rounds, the SP is ahead in both the Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
12.05 p.m.: After three rounds of counting, the Samajwadi Party is leading in Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency by over 1,500 votes.
11.50 a.m. Rinky Rani Pandey of the BJP leading by 2,729 votes in the Bhabua Assembly constituency. RJD’s Suday Yadav leading by around 1,200 votes in the Jehanabad Assembly seat, according to the early trends.
11.40 a.m.: UP Lok Sabha bypoll: SP candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel leading by 8,199 votes in Phulpur after seven rounds of counting: Officials.
11.15 a.m.: With the BJP candidate leading in Araria by-poll, the state party leader and minister in Nitish Kumar cabinet, Nand Kishore Yadav said NDA will win all three seats, two assembly and one Lok Sabha by-poll. The RJD candidate Suday Yadav in Jehanabad had taken a comfortable lead over his rival Abhiram Sharma of JD(U).
10.16 a.m.: BJP still leading by 1212 votes at Araria.
10.10 a.m.: BJP candidate from Araria Lok Sabha seat Pradeep Singh is leading over his rival RJD candidate Sarfaraj Alam by 2321 votes. Araria is a keenly contested Lok Sabha by-poll between two rivals NDA and Grand Alliance.
10.02 a.m.: In Bhabhua assembly by-poll, BJP candidate Rinki Rani Pandey, wife of Rajesh Pandey whose death had necessitated the poll, is ahead of her rival Congress candidate Shambhu Patel by 3000 votes.
10.00 a.m.: BJP ahead in Gorakhpur, SP leading in Phulpur by 1400 votes after round 1.
8.45 a.m.: Early trends show Rashtriya Janta Dal lead on Araria Lok Sabha, Jehanabad assembly while BJP lead in Bhabhua assembly.
(With inputs from Amarnath Tewary and Omar Rashid)
The Lok Sabha constituency of Gorakhpur witnessed 43% polling while Phulpur saw a turnout of 37.39% till 5 p.m. on March 11, Election Commission sources said.
The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath today said the BJP was getting widespread support from the people.
Speaking to reporters after casting his vote in the Gorakpur bypolls, the priest-turned-politician noted that the public believes in the mantra of development and governance given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
57% polling was recorded in the by-election to the Araria constituency in Bihar on March 11, a senior poll official said.
The by-poll in Araria is being viewed as a test for the ruling JD(U)-BJP combine as well as the opposition RJD-Congress alliance, ahead of the big battle in the general elections due next year.
In the Bhabua and Jehanabad Assembly constituencies, where by-polls were also held, the voter turnout was 54.03% and 50.06% respectively after polling ended at 5 p.m., Bihar Chief Electoral Officer Ajay V. Nayak said.
This is the first electoral battle in the state since Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who also heads the JD(U), walked out of the alliance with the RJD and the Congress and joined the BJP-led NDA last year.
