While the saffron wave swept Uttar Pradesh as the Election Commission counted votes, everything was not as colourful for the state’s deputy chief minister and BJP’s OBC face Keshav Prasad Maurya. The veteran BJP leader, who contested from his birthplace Kaushambi, lost to Samajwadi Party candidate Pallavi Patel by 7,337 votes from the Sirathu assembly constituency. Maurya was among the biggest casualties that the BJP suffered even as Yogi Adityanath led the saffron party in scripting history.
The counting of votes for the Sirathu Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh were stopped momentarily. The Bharatiya Janata Party had demanded recounting of a few EVM machines. Until 9 PM, Apna Dal (K) leader Pallavi Patel who fought on a Samajwadi Party ticket was leading from this constituency.
Maurya had won the Sirathu seat in 2012, but had not contested the 2017 polls. By afternoon, Maurya was trailing from Sirathu seat by about 1,500 votes on Thursday, according to poll trends.
The Sirathu assembly constituency stole the spotlight on Thursday with not only Maurya complaining about faulty EVMs, but also the Samajwadi Party alleging that their candidate was not being able to take her winning certificate.
“Pallavi Patel ji, the SP candidate from Sirathu assembly seat, has won the election but the BJP people are not allowing them to take the certificate by pelting stones and rioting at the counting venue. @ECISVEEP immediately Strictest action should be taken against the miscreants and a certificate of victory should be given,” the party tweeted from its handle.
Incidents of stone pelting and gun firing were also reported from the Sirathu constituency, with videos showing police controlling agitated crowds. According to reports, a police personnel was also injured in the incident.
Accepting the defeat later in the day, Maurya tweeted, “I humbly accept the decision of the people of Sirathu assembly constituency, grateful for the hard work of each and every worker, I express my gratitude towards the voters who gave blessings in the form of votes.” His loss came as a surprise to BJP, with the EC website showing his vote count as 98,941. On the other hand, Pallavi Patel won 1,06,278 votes.
सिराथू विधानसभा क्षेत्र की जनता के फ़ैसले को विनम्रतापूर्वक स्वीकार करता हूँ,एक एक कार्यकर्ता के परिश्रम के लिए आभारी हूँ,जिन मतदाताओं ने वोट रूपी आशीर्वाद दिया उनके प्रति कृतज्ञता ज्ञापित करता हूँ,— Keshav Prasad Maurya (@kpmaurya1) March 10, 2022
The contest of the OBC face in the BJP was crucial at a time when several leaders from the community had deserted the party over the past several days. However, fielding an OBC candidate from Sirathu did not turn out to be much beneficial for the BJP.
Maurya had become a first-time MLA from Sirathu assembly seat in 2012. The seat was considered the stronghold of the Bahujan Samaj Party till then. A strong OBC face, Maurya was given a chance to contest the Lok Sabha elections in 2014 from Phulpur, known as Jawaharlal Nehru’s constituency, where he won as well.
In 2016, Maurya was given the charge to lead the state unit in the assembly elections. The party had a landslide victory and Maurya was rewarded for his tireless efforts. He was given a chance to contest the MLC elections and was made deputy CM in the Yogi Adityanath-led government.
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