BJP Confronts Big Setback, Trails In Key UP Elections: Important Points To Know

The Samajwadi Party has slipped into the lead as votes are counted in by-elections for Uttar Pradesh's Gorakhpur parliament seat, where a top official has barred the media from entering the counting centre in what is now a full-blown political controversy. The Samajwadi Party is also leading in Phulpur. The seats were vacated by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya of the BJP and today's by-election is a prestige battle for the ruling party, which took on the combined might of regional heavyweights Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's BSP.

Here are some important points to know about the by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur:

• In UP capital Lucknow, the state assembly was adjourned for ten minutes as Samajwadi Party legislators protested against the ban on the media by Gorakhpur's District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela.
• Mr Rautela told news agency ANI, "Counting of votes is underway. When ARO sends counting figures of any round from the 5 assembly constituencies, it is scrutinised by the RO and 2 observers scrutinise the counting figures manually and digitally, and then sign it. This process takes time...Only then is the counting sheet of the entire Parliamentary constituency finalised and we announce it. We have announced the figures of the first round. Those of the 2nd and 3rd round are ready. We will announce it soon."
• Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath held the Gorakhpur seat for five terms. He vacated it last year after becoming chief minister, following the BJP's sweep of the 2017 assembly elections, capturing 325 of the 403 assembly seat along with allies. Phulpur was vacated by his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.
• A year after the BJP's big win, the by-elections were seen as a test of Yogi Adityanath's popularity and the Chief Minister was the face of the BJP's campaign, addressing multiple public rallies. He had campaigned hard in both constituencies and described the by-elections as a dress rehearsal for the general election next year. "Our victory margins will be as big as in 2014," he had told NDTV.
• Regional heavyweights and arch-rivals Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party have pooled resources to take on the BJP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in what is seen as an experiment to test the ground for a larger alliance for the 2019 national election.
• In both seats, the Samajwadi Party fielded candidates, with the BSP offering support in a rare deal that includes the Samajwadi Party's support for the BSP in Rajya Sabha elections in UP later this month. "If we win, there will be a bigger alliance," promised Pravin Nishad, fielded by the Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur, who is now ahead of his BJP rival.
• Mayawati, the Dalit powerhouse in the state, has not fielded a candidate.  Her workers have asked the sizeable Dalit community to vote for the Samajwadi candidates, though she has not committed to a bigger partnership, waiting to see how the experiment works. The present arrangement, she has insisted, is an "agreement" not an "alliance."
• The Gorakhpur seat is important for the BJP largely because it is the home turf of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, a seat from where he has never lost an election since 1998 when he first contested the Lok Sabha elections. Mr Adityanath woon from Gorakhpur five consecutive times. Prior to Mr Adityanath, the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor, Yogi Avaidyanath. It is now a prestige battle for the BJP, and it is this prestige associated with the seat that would make a win for the Samajwadi Party-led opposition particularly sweet.