The BJP has won 24 of the 27 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council seats for which polling was held last week but lost in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency Varanasi allegedly because of sabotage engineered by a jailed don.
Annapurna Singh, wife of mob boss Brijesh Singh, won as an Independent amid allegations by BJP nominee Sudama Patel that sections within his own party’s leaders and voters had ditched him.
The 100-member Legislative Council, or the Upper House, had 36 vacant seats, of which the BJP won uncontested in nine. Voting was held for 27 seats and the BJP lost in Varanasi, Azamgarh and Pratapgarh to Independent candidates.
MPs, MLAs and representatives of urban and rural bodies vote to select their local area representatives for whom 36 seats are reserved in the Legislative Council of Uttar Pradesh.
“My own party’s leaders surrendered before the muscle and money power of the jailed don. The voters of my party didn’t support me. I was abandoned by my own leaders and voters,” Sudama told reporters after the results were declared on Tuesday.
Annapurna secured 4,234 votes, Samajwadi Party candidate Umesh Yadav 345 votes and the BJP’s Sudama 170 votes.
Vikrant Singh, an Independent, won in Azamgarh. Vikrant rebelled against the BJP and contested as an Independent when the party nominated Arun Sagar Yadav as its candidate.
“It is true that I have been suspended from the BJP but I am still a follower of chief minister Yogi Adityanath. I thank the voters for electing me,” Vikrant said.
Vikrant cornered 4,075 votes, Arun Sagar 1,262 votes and Rakesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party 356 votes. Rakesh’s performance drew attention as Azamgarh is considered a stronghold of Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav. Akhilesh was elected MP from Azamgarh in 2019 and resigned last month after winning the Assembly election from Karhal in Mainpuri.
The BJP had won all eight Assembly seats in Varanasi in the February-March elections. The Samajwadi Party had pocketed all 10 Assembly seats in Azamgarh.
Akshay Pratap Singh, a close associate of Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya, was elected MLC from Pratapgarh for the fifth consecutive term. A source in the BJP said the proximity of Raja Bhaiya, Jansatta Party leader and MLA from Kunda, with BJP leaders including defence minister Rajnath Singh and Adityanath had ensured the victory of his candidate.
Brijesh, the don who carried a reward of Rs 5 lakh on his head, was arrested from Bhubaneswar in 2008. An accused in several murders, he is also registered in police records as a contract killer who had worked for Dawood Ibrahim.
Lodged in Varanasi jail, Brijesh was elected MLC from the area six years ago. But this time, he got his wife to contest. Local people claim Brijesh is close to Thakur leaders of the BJP, who protect him and tap into his crime network at times.
The BJP and the Samajwadi Party earlier had 35 and 17 members in the Legislative Council, respectively. With the victory of the BJP in 33 more seats, its strength has gone up to 68. It is after four decades that the state’s ruling party has such a huge strength in the Upper House.
