In a setback to the main opposition Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP wrested both the Rampur and the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats from it.
BJP’s Ghanshyam Lodhi defeated Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Mohd Asim Raja by a comfortable margin of 42,192 votes in the direct contest in Rampur, a seat vacated by SP stalwart Azam Khan after being elected to the Uttar Pradesh assembly.
In the Azamgarh Lok Sabha constituency, a seat previously held by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BJP’s Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ defeated SP candidate Dharmendra Yadav by a margin of 8,679 votes.
”Lodhi has won by over 42,000 votes,” Rampur District Magistrate Ravindra Kumar told reporters after giving the winning certificate to the BJP contender.
While Lodhi secured 3,67,397 votes (51.96 per cent), SP’s Raja got 3,25,205 votes (46 per cent), the Election Commission (EC) said.
Raja is considered close to SP’s Mohd Azam Khan, who had won from the constituency in 2019.
”This is a victory of the people of Rampur,” Lodhi said, adding that he would now work as their ”chowkidar”.
Meanwhile, Azam Khan alleged misuse of official machinery in the polls and challenged that he would leave politics if any international agency conducts the polls and his party candidate gets defeated. He also said that Raja’s defeat is the defeat of democracy.
”Let elections be conducted honestly. I say the International Court of Justice should come and conduct elections here. If my candidate gets defeated then, I will leave politics,” he told reporters.