NEW DELHI: The BJP has secured a decisive victory in the by-election for the Katehari Assembly seat, with its candidate Dharmaraj Nishad defeating Samajwadi Party’s (SP) Shobhavati Verma by a margin of over 33,000 votes. The voting for this seat took place on November 20, with a turnout of 56.89%.
The Katehari constituency, located in Ambedkar Nagar, witnessed a direct contest between the SP and BJP. Despite being a stronghold of SP MP Lalji Verma, the BJP managed to overturn the traditional dominance of the Samajwadi Party in this crucial bypoll.
Katehari has long been considered a bastion of Lalji Verma, who relies heavily on a significant lead from the Tanda block during elections. However, this time, the results deviated from expectations. Counting began at the Tanda block on Saturday, with BJP gaining the lead from the very first round.
In the early stages of counting, BJP established an initial lead of over 1,000 votes by the second round. Although SP briefly gained the upper hand in the fourth round with a lead of 500 votes, the tide soon turned. SP’s lead peaked by the seventh round at over 3,000 votes and remained ahead until the tenth round, though the margin gradually narrowed to just 766 votes by the 11th round.
From the 12th round onwards, BJP regained momentum, securing a lead of over 1,000 votes, which steadily increased with each round. By the conclusion of the 31 rounds of counting, BJP’s Dharmaraj Nishad had solidified a commanding victory.
The outcome defied predictions, with BJP leaders initially anticipating a win by 8,000-10,000 votes. The eventual margin of 33,000 votes underscored the party’s strong performance and the electorate’s shift in preference in this bypoll.
Meanwhile, in the broader Uttar Pradesh bypolls, the BJP secured six out of nine seats. The Samajwadi Party (SP) managed to retain two, while the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) claimed the Meerapur seat