The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Aman Giri won the Gola Gokarannath assembly bypoll in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday, defeating his nearest rival and Samajwadi Party candidate Vinay Tiwari by over 34,000 votes, a senior official said.
In the bypoll, a voter turnout of 57.35 per cent was recorded and seven candidates were in the fray.
With the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress keeping away, it was a direct contest between Aman Giri from the ruling BJP in the state and Tiwari from the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP.
District election officer Mahendra Bahadur Singh said Aman Giri won by a margin of 34,298 votes. He received 1,24,810 votes while Tiwari got 90,512 votes, he said.
Following his victory, Giri said he will ensure development of the constituency and fulfil the dream of his father Arvind Giri, whose death in September necessitated the bypoll.
He also thanked Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for promising to develop Gola Gokarannath as 'Chhota Kashi'.
While the BJP's campaign was led by Adityanath, SP chief Yadav did not campaign for the bypoll. Gola Gokarannath is part of Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra's Lok Sabha constituency Lakhimpur Kheri.
The chief minister congratulated BJP workers on the victory and thanked the people of Gola Gokarannath for supporting Aman Giri. "Heartiest congratulations to all hardworking workers and respected voters for the grand victory of @BJP4UP in the bypoll in the Gola Gokarnnath assembly seat," Adityanath said in a tweet in Hindi.
"This spectacular victory is a symbol of the unwavering faith of the people in the public welfare policies of the double-engine BJP government. Thank you Gola Gokarnnath residents," he said.
It was the victory of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's resolve of 'Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas, Sabka Vishwas, Sabka Prayas', the chief minister said.
As per a statement issued from the BJP headquarters, Uttar Pradesh BJP president Bhupendra Singh Chaudhary expressed his gratitude to the people of the Gola Gokarannath Assembly segment.
Due to the public welfare work being done by the BJP government under the leadership of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Adityanath, the public's trust and confidence in the BJP, Chaudhary added. He also congratulated party workers.
During campaigning, Adityanath had assured voters that sugarcane dues will be cleared at the earliest, a 'Chhota Kashi' corridor on the lines of the Kashi Vishwanath corridor in Varanasi and a medical college will be built.
In a statement issued here, SP chief Yadav alleged that there were irregularities at every step in the bypoll and his party's workers were harassed.
"Voters gave over 90,000 votes to the SP candidate, and gave a challenge to the BJP. The dignity of democracy has been shattered in this election. The BJP had claimed of winning the bypoll even before the results were out. There were irregularities at every step in the bypoll and SP workers were harassed," he said.
The police threatened SP workers, while the administration worked as a "BJP worker", Yadav alleged and added that in the by-election, the government defeated democracy.
"On polling day, it was clear that under the BJP's rule, free and fair polls are not possible. The BJP does not allow voters to work independently. On polling day, there was a police lathicharge and polling agents were chased away, especially Muslims," the SP chief said.
He alleged that the BJP only wants power and for this, it resorts to all kinds of tricks. "Why is the Election Commission not successful in maintaining impartiality of the poll? This situation is dangerous for democracy," Yadav said.
Despite Aman Giri riding a wave of sympathy after his father's death, the BJP did not leave anything to chance and deputed 40 star campaigners, including all major Cabinet ministers and party office-bearers, for the bypoll.
The outcome of the bypoll will not have much impact as the BJP and its allies enjoy an overwhelming majority in the 403-member assembly. But it was a test of strength between the rivals in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department Minister Jitin Prasada told reporters in Amethi that the BJP's win in the bypoll marks the start of a victory campaign for the party for the general elections.
In the Lok Sabha election, a full majority government will be formed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi, he said.
SP's Tiwari had represented Gola Gokarannath in 2012, when the constituency was carved out after abolishing the then Hyderabad segment. Before that year, Kheri district had seven assembly segments -- Mohammadi, Hyderabad, Paila, Lakhimpur, Srinagar, Nighasan and Dhaurahra.
After the 2012 delimitation, Mohammadi, Lakhimpur, Srinagar, Nighasan and Dhaurahra were retained and three new constituencies -- Kasta, Paliya and Gola Gokarannath -- were added. Paila and Hyderabad were abolished.
Arvind Giri had joined the BJP ahead of the 2017 assembly polls and contested from his native constituency against Tiwari. Riding the Modi wave and with his own ground support, Arvind Giri wrested the seat from the SP in 2017.
He retained the seat in 2022. Issues related to farmers, including sugarcane dues, crop procurement and floods, were at the centre of the poll discourse.
