Dimple Yadav takes unassailable lead in SP bastion Mainpuri

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party candidate Dimple Yadav has taken a comfortable lead of over 2.38 lakh votes in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha constituency, while nominees of the RLD and the BJP are ahead in Khatauli and the Rampur Sadar seats respectively, according to trends for the bypolls in Uttar Pradesh.

While Dimple Yadav, wife of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, has taken a lead over BJP candidate Raghuraj Singh Shakya, RLD's Madan Bhaiya is leading by over 11,327 votes in Khatauli over the BJP's Rajkumar Saini, the Election Commission said.

BJP's Akash Saxena is leading over the Samajwadi Party candidate Asim Raja from Rampur Sadar over the by a margin of 6,746 votes.

Bypolls for these seats were held on December 5.

Recalling that Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya had said the bypolls results will be an indication of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, SP state president Naresh Uttam said trends now show that the SP will be ahead in the next parliamentary polls.

"Despite 'misuse' of official machinery, Dimple Yadav is winning by a record margin. This shows people are fed up with the BJP misrule," he said.

In a tweet, Pragatisheel Samajwadi party (Lohia) founder Shivpal Singh Yadav thanked the people of Mainpuri and also his assembly constituency Jaswant Nagar, which lies in it.

"We have taken a lead of one lakh and it will be historic as many rounds are left," he said.

The Mainpuri parliamentary constituency, which fell vacant after the death of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, had registered 54.01 per cent voting.

The Khatauli assembly segment had recorded 56.46 per cent polling on December 5 while Rampur Sadar had seen a low 33 per cent.

Bypoll in Rampur Sadar and Khatauli were necessitated due to the disqualification of SP MLA Azam Khan and BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini following their conviction by separate courts in different matters.

Following defeats in Azamgarh and the Rampur Lok Sabha bypoll, considered the SP's bastions, the Mainpuri parliamentary and the Rampur and Khatauli assembly by-elections have become important for the Akhilesh Yadav-led party and his ally RLD.

Though the outcome of the bypolls would not make much difference to the government at the Centre as well as in Uttar Pradesh as the BJP has a comfortable majority at both the places, a win would give psychological advantage to the winner in the run-up to the 2024 general election.