Uttar Pradesh, Bihar Bye-Elections 2018 Results to be Declared Today; Counting of Votes to Begin at 8 AM

New Delhi, March 14: The results for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar bye-elections 2018 will be declared on Wednesday. The counting of votes will for UP's Gorakhpur and Phulpur as well as for Bihar's Araria,

New Delhi, March 14: The results for Uttar Pradesh and Bihar bye-elections 2018 will be declared on Wednesday. The counting of votes will for UP’s Gorakhpur and Phulpur as well as for Bihar’s Araria, Jehanabad and Bhabhua seats will begin at 8 AM. Voting for all these seats had taken place on Sunday, March 11.

The voter turnout on both seats of UP remained dismal. While Gorakhpur recorded 43 per cent voting, a voter turnout of 37.39 per cent was recorded in Phulpur. However in Bihar, over 50% turnout was recorded in Araria whereas in Jehanabad and Bhabhua 50.6 per cent and 54.3 voter turnout was registered respectively. (Also Read: Araria, Jehanabad, Bhabhua By-elections Results 2018: Litmus Test For Tejashwi Yadav And BJP)

UP bye-elections important for BJP

UP CM Adityanath Yogi had termed the bypolls a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. For the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, Gorakhpur is important as it is the bastion of the chief minister who has represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Losing this seat would mean a huge loss for the BJP.

Phulpur, which was represented by India’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election after Keshav Prasad Maurya won the seat.

Bye-elections important for BSP-SP 

The bye-elections are also important for the Mayawati-led BSP as it announced support to Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party to defeat the common foe, BJP. It was reported that the BSP supremo had reportedly asked her party workers to start door-to-door campaigning for Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

Parties hopeful of thumping victory

While the BJP is confident of retaining both the seats, the SP has said that it is sure of defeating the BJP with the BSP’s support to its candidates on both the seats. (Will BSP Support Work For SP in Gorakhpur, Phulpur?)

About Bihar bye-elections

Bihar bye-elections were the first electoral test for Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who walked out of the Grand Alliance last year and joined hands with the BJP. The bypoll in Araria Lok Sabha seat was necessitated by the death of RJD MP Mohammad Taslimuddin. The Jehanabad Assembly seat has fallen vacant after the death of RJD legislator Mundrika Yadav. The bypoll in Bhabhua in Kaimur district has been necessitated following the death of the BJP legislator. The contest is between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and Grand Alliance of RJD, Congress and Hindustani Awam Morcha-Secular (HAM-S) of Jitan Ram Manjhi, who quit the NDA to switch sides.