Gorakhpur bypolls: BJP necessary for development and good governance, says Yogi Adityanath

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath voted in the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha by-elections. As he cast his vote, the former Gorakhpur MP said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is necessary for development and good governance.

Gorakhpur, where by-elections was necessitated after Adityanath’s elevation as the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, is witnessing a triangular contest between the BJP, the Congress and the Samajwadi Party.

Gorakhpur: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath at a polling station to cast his vote for Lok Sabha by-election. pic.twitter.com/5eFWfZMuEy

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 11, 2018

By-elections are also being conducted on Sunday at Phulpur, the constituency that was earlier represented by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Gorakhpur: Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath casts his vote for #GorakhpurByPoll at a polling station, says 'For development and good governance, BJP is necessary.' pic.twitter.com/JxcYkIKnEI

— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 11, 2018

A total of 10 candidates in the fray from Gorakhpur seat, while 22 from Phulpur. The BJP has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. Congress candidate from Gorakhpur is Sureetha Kareem and from Phulpur is Manish Mishra.

Phulpur, once the bastion of the Congress and represented by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, when Maurya won the seat.

According to the Election Commission, there are 19.61 lakh voters in Phulpur parliamentary constituency, while there are 19.49 lakh voters in Gorakhpur parliamentary.

The importance that this election holds for the SP and BSP can be understood by the fact that the two parties have joined hands to fight the polls together. The BSP backed SP in the polls in return for their support to send a BSP candidate to Rajya Sabha.