A united opposition can be seen standing against the current ruling dispensation, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). An unusual wave of celebration and happiness was seen among the leaders of other political parties following the defeat of the saffron party in its Gorakhpur citadel and Phulpur in Uttar Pradesh and Araria in Bihar, when the results of the by-polls were declared yesterday.
While the BJP and Adityanath were over-confident of winning both seats, their defeat in both has signified that the ‘NaMo’ magic is fading and that the ‘NaMo wave’ is losing its effectiveness. Samajwadi Party (SP) candidate Pravin Nishad defeated BJP’s Upendra Datt Shukla with a margin of more than 21,000 votes. Similarly, in Phulpur, BJP’s Kaushalendra Singh Patel was defeated by SP’s Nagendra Singh Patel by 59,000 votes.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi took no time in congratulating the victorious Samajwadi Party(SP).
He tweeted, “आज के उपचुनावों में जीतने वाले उम्मीदवारों को बधाई।
नतीजों से स्पष्ट है कि मतदाताओं में भाजपा के प्रति बहुत क्रोध है और वो उस गैर भाजपाई उम्मीदवार के लिए वोट करेंगे जिसके जीतने की संभावना सबसे ज़्यादा हो।
कांग्रेस यूपी में नवनिर्माण के लिए तत्पर है, ये रातों रात नहीं होगा।“
आज के उपचुनावों में जीतने वाले उम्मीदवारों को बधाई।
नतीजों से स्पष्ट है कि मतदाताओं में भाजपा के प्रति बहुत क्रोध है और वो उस गैर भाजपाई उम्मीदवार के लिए वोट करेंगे जिसके जीतने की संभावना सबसे ज़्यादा हो।
कांग्रेस यूपी में नवनिर्माण के लिए तत्पर है, ये रातों रात नहीं होगा।
— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) March 14, 2018
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also took to Twitter to extend her greeting to Akhilesh Yadav and Mamata Banerjee and hinted towards the “beginning of the end”.
“Great victory. Congratulations to Mayawati Ji and @yadavakhilesh Ji for #UPByPolls The beginning of the end has started,” she tweeted.
Great victory. Congratulations to Mayawati Ji and @yadavakhilesh Ji for #UPByPolls The beginning of the end has started
— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) March 14, 2018
Communist Party of India (Marxist) CPI(M) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury also congratulated the winning party.
“Congratulations to all the winners in the by-elections today. The results speak for themselves,” Yechury tweeted.
Congratultaions to all the winners in the byelections today. The results speak for themselves. pic.twitter.com/nUmdD0Fl5Y
— Sitaram Yechury (@SitaramYechury) March 14, 2018
It would not be a surprise if prominent parties come together in order to up their game against the BJP, which expects to repeat the mandate of 2014 in 2019 also.