In a heated response to former Union minister Dr Sanjeev Balyan’s comments regarding internal betrayal leading to his electoral defeat, Sardhana former MLA Thakur Sangeet Som asserted that Balyan’s loss was due to his own actions and behaviour.

Balyan had alleged that Som assisted the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the recently-concluded elections. However, Som refuted these claims during a press briefing at his residence in Meerut Cantonment, emphasising that Balyan was defeated in his own constituencies of Budhana and Charthawal, and not in Sardhana.

“Balyan did not lose in Sardhana; he received an equal number of votes there,” Som stated. “His losses were in Budhana and Charthawal. Even in the urban assembly seat, where the BJP typically leads by 70,000 votes, the margin was reduced to just 800 votes. Only Balyan can explain why this happened,” he added.

Som highlighted that in the traditionally strong areas of the BJP like New Mandi, the SP candidate won. “I followed instructions from the chief minister and the state president to focus solely on Sardhana, where there was no loss in votes,” he said, adding “BJP’s vote share also reduced in Khatauli, which is Baliyan’s fortress.”

However, despite the criticism, Som clarified there was no ideological rift between him and Balyan, asserting that both were committed BJP workers striving for the party’s success. On rumours of supporting the SP, Som retorted: “How can I help a party that once had me jailed?”

When questioned about the BJP’s poor performance in western Uttar Pradesh, Som attributed it to vote splitting. He also responded to Balyan’s claim that “Som lacks the stature” to engage with him by suggesting that any complaints should have been raised within the party forum rather than in the media.

“Washing dirty linen in public is not a good strategy,” Som remarked.

Additionally, Som criticised the BJP’s alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) within the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), arguing that it had been detrimental and led to losses in seats the BJP could have won independently.