RLD takes unassailable lead in Kairana

Lucknow: The RLD  is all set to wrest the Kairana parliamentary seat from the ruling BJP as its candidate Tabassum Hasan has taken an unassailable lead of over 43,000 votes, an Election Commission official said.

Bharatiya Janata Party`s Mriganka Singh is her nearest rival while other 10 candidates in the fray are set to lose their deposits.

Talking to reporters after leading in all assembly segments, Hasan said the leads have proven beyond doubt that the people of Kairana had voted out negative and divisive politics.

Talking to IANS, she said her victory will not only be a defining defeat for the BJP-led negative and communal politics but also expressed hope that it would lead to the coming together and further cementing of forces between the Opposition ranks.

She also thanked everybody for putting in their best and pointed out how not only her party, the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Ajit Singh, but workers of the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Congress and even the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) worked hard to consolidate voters in her favour.

"In the holy month of Ramadan, all the people worked hard in this scorching heat for a goal, with full confidence and positivity and the results are gladdening," she said, sounding elated on what appears to be now a certain victory.

She also demanded that all future elections be held on ballot paper system and not by electronic voting machines (EVMs), which we said were faulty and open to manipulation.

If the trends continue and the BJP loses the seat held by the late Hukum Singh, it will be a major jolt to the party, which a year back stormed to power in the state winning 323 seats in the 403-member House.