Lucknow: Gorakhpur is a saffron fortress. The city has sent the Mahant of Gorakhpeeth, Yogi Adityanath, to Parliament for six consecutive terms but the by-elections could be a tricky affair. With Mayawati’s BSP supporting the Samajwadi Party candidate, the polls have become a matter of prestige for the UP Chief Minister.
Most of the candidates are relying on door-to-door campaigning for votes. It is a battle between the BJP and SP candidate now, but the Congress is ready to put up a fight.
Political observers feel that the biggest challenge for any party will be to bring voters to the polling booth. In the last Lok Sabha elections, the polling percentage in Gorakhpur was 52.86 and Yogi Adityanath won by a margin of 3.12 lakh votes. Usually, the voting percentage is lower in bypolls when compared to General Elections.
For the first time since 1989, caste arithmetic might come into play at the Sadar Lok Sabha seat, which has been in the “possession” of Gorakhnath temple. The relation between the Mahant of the Goraknath Peeth meant that no candidate could challenge Yogi Adityanath. Things might change because the Mahant is not contesting himself this time.
The seat was vacated after Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh.
On the final day of campaigning for Phulpur and Gorakhpur, CM Yogi Adityanath said the pre-poll understanding between the SP and BSP was proof that the two had already accepted defeat. “This is purely selfish understanding between the SP and the BSP and has nothing to do with the development of the state,” Adityanath said.
BJP has fielded Upendha Dutt Shukla in Gorakhpur. On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party has declared the son of the Nishad Party President, Praveen Nishad, as its candidate. The Congress nominee is Surhita Chatterjee Karim.
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