Firozabad: The Samajwadi Party on Tuesday
suffered a major setback when it lost the prestigious
Firozabad Lok Sabha seat with party chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav's daughter-in-law losing to actor-turned-politician Raj
Babbar of Congress by a huge margin of over 85,000 votes.
Babbar, a former MP from Agra who rebelled against the SP
and joined the Congress before the Lok Sabha elections in May,
secured 3,12,728 votes while Dimple Yadav got 2,27,385 votes
and ruling BSP nominee S P Singh Baghel 2,13,571 votes.
Firozabad seat was won by Dimple's husband Akhilesh
Yadav in May general elections by a margin of 67, 301 votes
against Baghel. Akhilesh, who had also won from Kannauj,
vacated Firozabad seat.
While Raj Babbar, who contested the elections raising
issue of "pariwarwaad" (dynastic rule), development of the
constituency and Rahul Gandhi's work, SP sought votes on
emotional plank asking them to elect Mulayam's 'bahu'.
Other than the Muslim and Yadav combination, the SP was
also banking on Kalyan Singh to mobilise Lodh caste voters in
favour of Dimple.
Kalyan and his son Rajbir had campaigned extensively
in Firozabad for Mulayam's daughter-in-law.
Reacting to his victory, Babbar said he had fought the
poll on the plank of development and he would keep it in mind
all the time.
About her SP rival, he said Dimple is "like my
daughter" and he has nothing "harsh" to say against her.
Bureau Report
First Published: Tuesday, November 10, 2009, 18:06