Lucknow, March 14 (IANS): Elated over the victories in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav credited the outcome to BJP’s “misgovernance” and also thanked once arch foe and BSP leader Mayawati for supporting his candidates.
After Samajwadi Party candidates were declared elected from both the constituencies, Akhilesh Yadav said this was a fitting reply to the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh and that the results carried a “message and direction”.
“I am thankful to the people of these two places,” he told the media.
“Jo sarkaar janta ko dukh deti hai, janta usko sahi jawaab deti hai,” he said. “Acche din toh aaye nahi, janta ek ho gayi aur BJP ke bure din laane ka kaam kiya.” (A government which gives pain to the people gets a fitting response from the people. Good days never dawned for the people and so bad days have started for the BJP.)
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister extended his gratitude to Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati for her support to his candidates.
Once bitter rivals, the two parties set aside their differences and came together in a determined bid to defeat the BJP. Yadav also raised questions over the functioning and integrity of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and said that the margin of victory would have been “in lakhs, not in thousands” had the voting been done through ballot papers. He took a dig at Adityanath, saying the Chief Minister had been “mocking at the Constitution of India” through his words and actions.
“Perhaps there has never been a Chief Minister who mocked at the Constitution like he has done. On the floor of the House, he said that he does not celebrate Eid because he was a Hindu.
“In the House, he instructed the police to kill criminals in ‘encounters’ or even to cut them into pieces if needed,” Yadav said.
Celebrations broke out in many parts of the state as Samajwadi Party cadres smeared each other with Holi colours and raised slogans in favour of the BSP-SP alliance. “Bua-Bhatija Zindabad” slogans rent the air at some places. BSP and SP flags fluttered together.
The Samajwadi Party’s Nagendra Singh Patel emerged victorious in Phulpur with a margin of 59,613 votes. Pravin Nishad beat his BJP rival in Gorakhpur, a seat held by the BJP since 1989, by 21,881 votes.
