[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]The saffron surge in India failed to sweep up the three Lok Sabha seats, including Gorakhpur which has been with Hindutva brigade since 1989, in the keenly watched by-elections held this month.

Seen as a set-back to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, the election results are also a boost to the opposition parties still trying to find ways to get together and defeat the BJP.

The by-polls were held in two of the numerically significant states in India politics, UP and Bihar. The BJP has major stakes in both.

In UP, the elections were held for Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats of Uttar Pradesh which were vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya after their entry into the Assembly in April, 2017.

Both seats were a status fight for the BJP. Gorakhpur has been held by Yogi Adityanath since 1998 – he was the youngest MP at 26 – and three times before that by his mentor Advaidyanath. Phulpur is an extremely prominent Lok Sabha seat that the BJP had wrested only in 2014. It has been represented by Jawaharlal Nehru, his sister Vijayalakshmi Pandit and also former Prime Minister VP Singh.

In Bihar, election to Araria parliamentary seat, that fell vacant after the death of RJD MP Mohd Taslimuddin, was seen as a test for the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U)-BJP combine formed after the former unceremoniously dumped the grand alliance with RJD and Congress which had been voted to power in last Assembly polls. Prognosis of many commentators then was that Nitish Kumar had sealed his fate, that it was the beginning of his end.

It wasn’t as if the BJP didn’t work hard. Adityanath held around one-and-a-half dozen rallies in Gorakhpur, a seat he held for over 18 years. He drew attention to the importance of government performance which the public could see: he has got the state assembly and other buildings, rural road signs and buses painted saffron, said that Taj Mahal doesn’t signify Indian culture, set up anti-romeo squads, visited temples regularly, made arrangements for Hindu pilgrims, and generally talked about Hindutva issues. He also relieved the police of the problem of going through the tedious process of investigating and gathering evidence to bring the criminals to book. Encounter killings were the way out advocated by his government.

However, other, ‘local’ issues as he put it, seem to have dominated. Lack of avenues for productive employment could be one. Harassment – ‘dadagiri’ – by his followers may have added to it. Besides, the low turnout  in both Phulpur (37.3%) and Gorakhpur (43%) seats raises the possibility that BJP’s smug voter base didn’t bother to venture out unlike that section of the electorate who are opposed to the BJP.

As it happened, Samajwadi Party (SP) defeated BJP in both Phulpur and Gorakhpur. Samajwadi Party’s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel won Phulpur Lok Sabha seat by 59,613 votes.

In Bihar, the RJD candidate Sarfaraz Alam won the Araria Lok Sabha seat. The party also won the Jehanabad bypoll. Both, Araria Lok Sabha seat and Jehanabad Assembly seat were held by RJD. The BJP has retained Bhabua Assembly seat.

Bihar BJP president Nityanand Rai said, “Bihar has given sympathy vote this time. I’d like to thank all those who’ve supported us. We welcome the mandate of people. We will certainly win the elections of 2019 under the leadership of PM Modi & BJP President Amit Shah.”

In UP, the elections and the results were significant in many ways. SP and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) came together this time to stop the BJP, the first time after 1992, when they had joined hands to take charge of the state after the sacking of BJP’s Kalyan Singh in the aftermath of the Babri demolition. This political experiment has yielded dividends.

The BSP, which did not field candidates in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, supported the Samajwadi candidates, with Mayawati deploying her workers to seek votes for them. In return the Samajwadi Party will support the BSP in Rajya Sabha elections in UP later this month.

For UP CM Adityanath, the results signify a huge upset. Gorakhpur has voted saffron since 1989, voting for the head of the Gorakhnath matt every time: electing Yogi Adityanath’s mentor Mahant Avedyanath thrice and then Yogi Adityanath for five straight terms.

Adityanath was the face of the BJP’s campaign for the by-elections to the two VVIP seats. He described the by-elections as a dress rehearsal for the general election next year, telling NDTV, “Our victory margins will be as big as in 2014.”

The BJP’s UP leaders said they were taken by surprise. “Gorakhpur has always been a stronghold. Where we went wrong and how we can counter the SP, BSP combine, we will figure it out,” Keshav Prasad Maurya said.

“It is obviously not a satisfactory result. But one thing is certain that the SP was about to lose and the BSP’s support helped it. We have to adapt our strategy now,” UP Health Minister Sidharth Nath Singh said.

We accept the verdict of the people, this result is unexpected, we will review the shortcomings. I congratulate the winning candidates: UP CM Yogi Adityanath[/vc_column_text][vc_raw_html]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[/vc_raw_html][/vc_column][/vc_row]