The Samajwadi Party has defeated a former MLA who joined the BJP on a large mandate in a key bypoll.
Samajwadi Party candidate Sudhakar Singh defeated his BJP rival Dara Singh Chauhan by 42,759 votes in Uttar Pradesh’s Ghosi by-election on Friday, an official said.
SP retained the seat with Sudhakar Singh polling 1,24,427 votes. According to the Election Commission (EC), Dara Chauhan polled 81,668 votes. Counting of votes in the first major election battle between the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc began at 8:00 am. Voters decided the fate of ten candidates on Tuesday. In Ghos under Mau district, the voter turnout was 50.77 percent.
Ghosi’s by-election was prompted by Dara Chauhan, who won the seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections and quit the SP in July. He returned to the BJP and was elected by the party in the by-poll. In the 2022 state assembly elections, Dara Chauhan defeated BJP candidate Vijay Kumar Rajbhar by 22,216 votes.
In the poll, Dara Chauhan was supported by NDA voters Apna Dal (Sonelal), Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), a former SP ally. On the other hand, some voters from the INDIA bloc – Congress, CPI(M), CPI, RLD, AAP, CPI(ML)-Liberation and Suheldev Swabhiman Party – supported Sudhakar Singh.
The bypoll will not affect the BJP government, which has a comfortable majority in the 403-member assembly. However, its result may indicate what is in store for the INDIA bloc for the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. Uttar Pradesh sends 80 MPs to the 543-member Lok Sabha.
Ghosi’s vote was prompted by the resignation of Dara Singh Chauhan from the Samajwadi Party in July, who had won a seat in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. He defected to the BJP and was elected by the party in a by-poll.
