9 years ago
Lucknow:
The counting of votes for two Lok Sabha constituencies in Uttar Pradesh - Gorakhpur and Phulpur - have come to an end. Both Gorakhpur and Phulpur were won by Samajwadi Party in a staggering upset for the ruling BJP. Security had been heightened in both constituencies to ensure the counting of ballots happen smoothly. Gorakhpur was represented by Yogi Adityanath before he became the chief minister, while Phulpur was represented by Keshav Prasad Maurya, before he became the the deputy chief minister. Regional arch-rivals - Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which were steamrolled by the BJP in last year's assembly elections, had teamed up for the first time in nearly 25 years. Five-time lawmaker from Gorakhpur, Yogi Adityanath acknowledged his party's "overconfidence", saying they failed to understand the significance of the Samajwadi Party-BSP alliance for the by-elections. The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council. The voter turnout was 47.45 per cent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 per cent in Phulpur in Sunday's polling.
