LUCKNOW, June 1: The landslide victory of State Cabinet Minister Prabha Dwivedi (Bharatiya Janata Party) in the Farrukhabad by-election has given a message of far-reaching political consequence in Uttar Pradesh.It has shown the two coalition partners - BJP and BSP - what an electoral alliance between the two can achieve. The discomfiture of the other parties, particularly the Samajwadi Party, is evident.Senior BJP leader and Cabinet Minister Kalraj Mishra had dropped hints of a future alliance with the BSP when during his tour of Farrukhabad he had observed: ``This by-election is not just an experiment. We may continue with this arrangement in future.''Prabha defeated her nearest Congress-supported SP rival, Lal Bahadur Singh Shakaya, by a margin of nearly 20,000 votes. Even her late husband Brahm Dutt Dwivedi, whose assassination necessitated the by-election, had won with a smaller margin though for five terms. Political observers feel Prabha would have faced rough weather at the hustings had the BSP fielded a candidate. Former BJP legislator Urmila Rajput and sitting party MP Swami Satchidanand Sakshi had operated against her and tried their best to ensure her defeat but the solid support of nearly 50,000 Dalits in an electorate of 2.5 lakh made a difference.A whirlwind tour of the constituency by Chief Minister Mayawati two days before polling and a huge turnout at her rally had left no doubt about the outcome.Interestingly, Brahm Dutt Dwivedi had during previous elections polled votes less than that of the SP and the Congress candidates taken together. The Congress was in alliance with the BSP in the last elections but this time its votes could not be translated into victory for the SP candidate. This explains that the Congress had benefitted from its alliance with the BSP.The defeat of the SP candidate also dealt a bad blow to Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav, who toured the Assembly segment twice and entrusted his brother, Shivpal Yadav, with the responsibility of ensuring his party's victory.
