The rebellion by erstwhile ally Suheldeo Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) chief Om Prakash Rajbhar affected the electoral fortunes of Bharatiya Janata Party candidates in at least seven Lok Sabha constituencies in eastern UP, where it finished third.
Om Prakash Rajbhar was sacked from the Yogi Adityanath Cabinet on May 20, a day after the last phase polling in the just concluded Lok Sabha elections.
The poll results on May 23 revealed that the SBSP performed well in around 10 constituencies of the 39 it contested.
In seven constituencies, it came at the third place, pushing Congress to the fourth place. In both Ghosi and Ghazipur constituencies, where BJP lost to Bahujan Samaj Party, SBSP finished third by polling 39,860 and 33,877 votes respectively.
In Ghazipur, Union minister Manoj Sinha lost by over 1.50 lakh votes to BSP’s Afzal Ansari while in Ghosi, BJP’s Harinarain lost to BSP’s Atul Singh by a margin of over 1.20 lakh votes.
The other constituencies where SBSP was at the third place ahead of Congress include Ballia (35,900 votes), Machhlishahr (11,223 votes), Azamgarh (16,078 votes), Lalganj (17,927 votes) and Salempur (33,520 votes).
Similarly in three constituencies, SBSP candidates were at fourth place, including in Varanasi from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a candidate. In Varanasi, the SBSP polled 9,892 votes, in Robertsganj 4,817 votes and in Chandauli 18,485 votes.
