Lucknow: Samajwadi Party (SP) president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav on Friday claimed that the BJP ’s losses in five seats in the recently concluded Legislative Council elections reflected a much larger political setback, alleging that the ruling party had lost ground in nearly 50 districts and cities across the state.
He, however, alleged that SP candidate Sanjay Tripathi failed to win in Gorakhpur due to irregularities in the election process. Had the BJP govt not resorted to manipulation, it would never have won those six seats,” Akhilesh said.
He termed the BJP’s performance a “flop show” and accused the ruling party of relying on state machinery, money power and administrative influence to secure victories. Taking a swipe at the BJP’s celebrations, Akhilesh said those who had prepared to celebrate victories after the results were declared had instead faced disappointment. The SP chief said the results had disrupted the BJP’s political calculations and underlined the growing influence of the party’s PDA (Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak) social coalition. Akhilesh described Akash Agrawal’s victory from the Agra teachers’ constituency as a special achievement and said voters in Varanasi had delivered a setback to the BJP’s “double-engine” govt. Riding on victories in key teachers’ and graduates’ MLC constituencies, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday termed the results a verdict against the BJP govt’s “anti-education” policies, alleging that it shut 26,000 primary schools while opening 27,000 liquor shops.
Addressing a conference at the Samajwadi Party headquarters after meeting newly elected MLCs and party candidates, Akhilesh described the election outcome as the beginning of a political shift in Uttar Pradesh. “The BJP has money power, but the Samajwadi Party has people power. He alleged that attempts were made throughout the night to influence the counting process, forcing party workers and supporters to defend the electoral mandate. He also claimed that chief minister Yogi Adityanath ’s involvement in the Gorakhpur contest had adversely affected the BJP’s prospects. Highlighting the party’s electoral gains, he cited the victories of Sanjay Nishad, Akash Agrawal, Kanti Singh, Ashutosh Sinha, Lal Bihari Yadav and Dr Man Singh Yadav, saying support for the SP was expanding among traders, women and the Kayastha community. He credited teachers, graduates and women voters, especially female teachers, for the outcome.
The SP chief renewed his demand for ballot-paper voting, questioned data collection practices, attacked the BJP over farmers and infrastructure, and predicted a bigger setback for the ruling party in the 2027 Assembly polls.