With two MPs from Bengal, Babul Supriyo and Arjun Singh, switching sides, the BJP’s strength in the Lok Sabha was reduced slightly. In the bypoll results held on Sunday, the BJP won two seats in Uttar Pradesh, which the Samajwadi Party (SP) got in the last Lok Sabha elections. BJP captured Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats. As a result, Yogi Adityanath’s Uttar Pradesh has returned the number of MPs that were reduced when two MPs from Bengal left the party. BJP had control of 62 out of 80 seats in the state. It increased to 64. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party fell from five to three.
BJP got a thumping victory in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Narendra Modi sat for the second time as Prime Minister with 303 MPs. But recently this number has come down to 301. Babul Supriyo resigned as MP from Asansol and joined Trinamool. As soon as he later became MLA from Ballygunge, Shatrughan Sinha of Trinamool became MP from Asansol. Arjun Singh of Barrackpore is still a BJP MP but has returned to the Trinamool. The wound healed on Sunday. BJP’s strength in Lok Sabha went up to 304 when Arjun was still a BJP MP. Although the wounds of all the MPs of the country have been healed, but the saffron camp is yet to deal with the setback to the BJP in Bengal.
The victories in Azamgarh and Rampur in Uttar Pradesh are important for the BJP for other reasons as well. In 2009, Ramakant Yadav of BJP won but was snatched by Akhilesh. Akhilesh’s father Mulayam Singh Yadav has also won from this seat in the past. Akhilesh had resigned from the post of MP after his victory in the last assembly elections. The Leader of the Opposition won the by-election in Azamgarh from Karhal seat. Star candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirhua’ won on BJP ticket.
At the same time, the by-election on Rampur seat was also a challenge for BJP. While BJP won this seat in 1991, 1998 and 2014, Azam Khan of SP won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. He became an MLA from Rampur constituency in the 2022 assembly election and hence, the Lok Sabha seat fell vacant. But he could not hold on to it. Ghanshyam Singh Lodhi of BJP won by 42,000 votes.