'Bankipur bypoll reflects people's mood': SP's Ramgopal Yadav attacks BJP after Prashant Kishor's win
New Delhi, August 4
Samajwadi Party MP Ramgopal Yadav on Tuesday said the outcome of the Bankipur Assembly bypoll, won by Jan Suraaj founder Prashant Kishor, reflected the public mood against the BJP, alleging that the Centre was functioning in an "arbitrary" manner.
Speaking to ANI, Yadav said the government was using its parliamentary majority to pass laws that, according to him, were not in the public interest.
"These elections are reflecting the mood of the people of the country. The way this government is working is arbitrary. They will bring any law they want and get it passed on the strength of the public majority. Not a single law is being passed in the interest of the public. After all, how long will we tolerate it? This limit has been reached, and in the future, they will be ousted from power," he said.
Expressing confidence ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the SP leader claimed that his party would secure a decisive mandate.
"We will win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly with a two-thirds majority," Yadav added.
Meanwhile, SP MP Awadhesh Prasad also reacted to the bypoll results, claiming that the BJP had suffered a major setback.
"They have lost badly. Their national president's seat, which was considered a BJP stronghold. That defeat is a sign that their exit is certain," Prasad told ANI.
Targeting the Centre, Prasad also alleged that students across the country had faced injustice.
"In this country, injustice has been done to students. The way lathis were rained down on them... their troubles are only increasing, and they have no solution," he said.
Coming on the heels of intense youth-led protests over exam paper leaks and rising unemployment, the loss signals a shifting political wind across the Hindi heartland, exposing vulnerable fault lines in the BJP's traditional strongholds.
In Bihar's urban bastion of Bankipur--a saffron stronghold since 1995 vacated by BJP National President Nitin Nabin--Jan Suraaj Party founder Prashant Kishor secured his maiden electoral victory by a resounding 19,324 votes.
Simultaneously, in Madhya Pradesh's Datia, the Congress retained the key seat after defeating the BJP by over 6,000 votes.
The BJP's sole consolation came from Gujarat, where it retained the Manjalpur seat in Vadodara, albeit with a drastically reduced victory margin compared to the 2022 elections. BJP retained the seat, with Satish Patel beating Congress's Bhikhabhai Rabari by 30,630 votes. But that margin is a steep fall from the 1,00,754-vote landslide the party won there in the 2022 assembly election.
— ANI
Reader Comments
The student protests over paper leaks and unemployment clearly influenced this result. Young voters are frustrated and they've made their point. The government needs to listen instead of dismissing these signals.
Ramgopal Yadav talking about "arbitrary" government is a bit rich coming from someone whose party has flip-flopped on alliances every election. But yes, the bypoll result is significant. PK's victory is impressive, he built an entire party from scratch.
Wait, let's be realistic here. One bypoll victory doesn't mean the BJP is finished. They still have massive support across the country. But yes, the declining margins in even their safe seats should be a wake-up call. The arrogance of power needs to be checked.
The fact that students are being lathicharged for demanding justice and then the same government wonders why they're losing the youth vote? Bankipur is just the beginning. India's young population is tired of empty promises about employment.
Interesting electoral math here. Prashant Kishor winning is a big deal strategically - he's positioning himself as a game-changer in Bihar politics. But whether this translates into a national trend or remains a Bihar-specific phenomenon is still unclear. The SP claiming "UP with two-thirds majority" is frankly a fantasy.
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