Akhilesh expresses gratitude over bypoll win, slams BJP

Lucknow [Uttar Pradesh], Mar 14 (ANI): Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday thanked the people of Gorakhpur and Phulpur for his party's victory in the Lok Sabha bypolls and said the results were a message to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Yadav also thanked Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati Devi for her support in the by-elections, which hold an important spot in the state politics.

Mayawati and her party's support helped the alliance win the two seats, he said.

"Lok Sabha bypolls in Uttar Pradesh always give political messages. On one hand it was Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's parliamentary constituency, and on the other hand, it was Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's seat, both important to the BJP. If people of these places have such anger towards the BJP then imagine the anger of people in the rest of the country," the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said.

He also said the BJP had cheated the people by promising farmers' loan waiver, employment like scheme, but implemented demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST), made an insecure environment and insulted the Constitution.

"There is no other party which has exploited the Constitution like the BJP."

According to Yadav, those who exploit the people get a similar answer in return. The party could not bring 'Acche din' but the people united to bring 'bure din' for the BJP.

He also congratulated party's Nagendra Singh Patel, who defeated BJP's Kaushalendra Singh Patel in Phulpur, and Pravin Nishad for his win against BJP's Upendra Dutt Shukla in Gorakhpur, which Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath had won five consecutive times.

The bypolls were necessitated after Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated Gorakhpur and Phulpur seats, respectively, to form a government. The BJP had last year in Uttar Pradesh Assembly election secured a comfortable majority against the Congress and SP alliance.

The Chief Minister had termed the bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur a "verdict for 2019 general elections".(ANI)