By Vivek Tripathi
Lucknow, Sep 28 (IANS): The Samajwadi Party's (SP) defeat in the by-election to the Hamipur Assembly seat can be seen as a positive streak for the party, although Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) emerged victorious in the poll with a margin of over 17,000 votes.
The Samajwadi Party came second while the BSP came third and the Congress stood fourth in the by-poll.
BJP's Yuvraj Singh bagged 74,409 votes and won the election by a margin of 17,867 votes, while Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Manoj Prajapati stood second with 56,542 votes and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Naushad Ali got 28,749 votes.
In the Lok Sabha elections, the SP had won five seats and the BSP 10 seats, after which both parties have severed the alliance. This was also the first time when the BSP had fielded its candidate for the Hamipur seat.
The BSP, which has won more seats than the SP in the Lok Sabha elections, may be claiming to be the main opposition, but the result of Hamirpur has raised a hope for the SP.
The BJP candidate has won this by-election, but his vote percentage has decreased as compared to the 2017 general election and SP's vote percentage has increased.
In the 2017 assembly election, BJP's Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel won the Hamirpur seat by a margin of 8,655 votes. Chandel received a total of 44.49 per cent of the vote in that election. His nearest rival, Dr. Manoj Kumar Prajapati of SP, got 24.97 per cent votes, whereas, BSP stood at number three with 24.29 per cent votes.
With this victory, the BJP has stopped the continuous losses in the by-elections. But for the SP by changing its strategy and working hard, the sign of winning streak can be said hidden in it.
BJP MLA from Hamirpur Ashok Chandel was suspended by the Election Commission after he was sentenced in a trial, which has led to a by-election here.
Polling for this by-election was held on September 23. The Hamirpur seat, which recorded 51 per cent voting, was vacated following the conviction of BJP MLA Ashok Kumar Chandel in a 22-year-old murder case in May this year.