BSP sweeps by-elections in Uttar Pradesh

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh's ruling BSP on Wednesday proved its supremacy in the state by winning both Lok Sabha and all three Assembly seats by huge margins in by-elections held in the state.

The Congress was wiped out in Uttar Pradesh but it won an Assembly seat each in Orissa and West Bengal. And the BJP salvaged some pride in Madhya Pradesh by handsomely winning the Betul Harda Assembly seat.

The day's biggest winner was clearly Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati's BSP, which has increasingly embraced aggressive anti-Congress postures in recent times.

The BSP came on top in the Khalilabad Lok Sabha constituency, its candidate Bhishma Shankar Kushal Tiwari defeating Bhalchandra of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 64,632 votes.

In the Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat, Akbar Ahmed 'Dumpy' (BSP) – once a staunch Congressman – defeated Ramakant Yadav of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) by a margin of 54,251 votes.

In the Bilgram (Hardoi district) Vidhan Sabha constituency, Rajni Tiwari (BSP) won by 38,186 votes against Vishram Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party.

The Muradnagar Assembly seat in Ghaziabad district went to Rajpal Tyagi (BSP), who defeated Ayub Khan of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) by 6,853 votes.

In Karnailganj (Gonda district), BSP's Vraj Singh won by a margin of 9,737 votes against Yogesh Pratap Singh of the Samajwadi Party.

The Samajwadi Party, voted out last year in Uttar Pradesh, drew some solace by finishing second in one Lok Sabha and two Assembly seats.

The BSP has gained two new seats – Muradnagar and Karnailganj, which were earlier with the Congress. The defeat of the Congress in Karnailganj strengthens the perception that the BSP is eating into the former's vote share.

In Orissa's Lakshmipur constituency reserved for Scheduled Tribes, Purnachandra Majhi of the Congress defeated Bibhishan Majhi of the ruling Biju Janata Dal by a small margin of 484 votes.

In Madhya Pradesh, the Betul Harda Assembly constituency went to BJP's Hemant Khandelwal, who defeated Sukhdev Panse of the Congress by 35,440 votes.

In West Bengal's Kharba Assembly constituency, Atif Mehboob of the Congress defeated Anjum Ara of the ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) by a margin of 10,393 votes.

The Election Commission on Wednesday announced fresh by-elections to seven Lok Sabha seats – four in Andhra Pradesh (May 29) and one each in Maharashtra, Himachal Pradesh and Meghalaya (May 22).