Kushwaha report card in BJP: 2/10

The two winning BJP candidates were Ganga Singh Kushwaha in Fazilnagar and Keshav Maurya in Sirathu. Kushwaha,Murya and Shakya are different names of the same caste in different parts of UP.

BJP leaders now say that Ganga Singh Kushwaha and Keshav Maurya won because of their own work,and not because of Babu Singh Kushwaha’s effort.

In most of the eight other constituencies where the BJP lost,the BSP candidates did far better than BJP’s Kushwaha candidates,showing clearly that Babu Singh Kushwaha had failed to make any dent in the BSP. Also,most of the BJP candidates were placed low in the tally of votes.

In Fatehabad,the party’s Giriraj Kushwaha stood third while the BSP’s Chotelal Verma won. Giriraj got only 20,502 votes while Verma got 73,098 votes.

In Shivpur,BSP’s Uday Lal Maurya won and BJP’s R P Kushwaha stood sixth. Sources said the party had given a ticket R P Kushwaha on the recommendation of Babu Singh Kushwaha.

In Lalitpur,the BJP fielded Ram Ratan Kushwaha on Babu Singh Kushwaha’s recommendation. Lalitpur is in Bundelkhand,from where Babu Singh Kushwaha comes. Ram Ratan stood third while BSP’s Ramesh Prasad Kushwaha got 79,797 votes and won.

In Bithari Chainpur,BJP’s Maiku Lal Maurya stood fifth with 17,206 votes; the BSP won the seat.

In Unchahar,BJP’s Ramesh Maurya stood fifth while SP’s Manoj Kumar Pandey won with 61,930 votes. BSP’s Utkrisht Maurya stood second with 59,348 votes.

The SP also won in Bidhuna and Amritpur. BJP’s Geeta Shakya stood third in Bidhuna while Sushil Shakya stood fourth in Amritpur

BJP’s Bahoran Lal Maurya stood third in Bhojipura where Ittehad-E-Millait Council’s Shazil Islam won.

Babu Singh Kushwaha belongs to Atarra town in Naraini assembly constituency in Banda district and Kushwaha had campaigned there for BJP candidate Rajkaran Kabir. BSP candidate Gayacharan Dinkar won there while Kabir stood third.

Badshah Singh,BJP candidate in Mahoba who was Kushwaha’s cabinet colleague in the Mayawati government,used Kushwaha’s photos on banners and posters,but still lost. Mahoba is also in Bundelkhand.

Party sources said Babu Singh Kushwaha addressed public meetings in about 35 constituencies,spread over 25 districts,including Farrukhabad,Bahraich,Muzaffarnagar,Kanpur,Hamirpur,Kushinagar,Lalitpur,Mahoba,Jhansi,Banda,Basti,Faizabad,Sitapur,Ballia,Agra and Meerut.

BJP candidates lost in 28 of these constituencies. Those who won the other seven seats were strong candidates,like Uma Bharti in Charkhari and Ajay Mishra in Nighasan.

“The party’s brass may not accept that the Kushwaha episode hurt the party,but the fact is that when Kushwaha was inducted in the party,it turned away the voters,” said a party leader from Kushinagar,where Kushwaha had addressed a public meeting in Padrauna.