How AIMIM helped BJP win UP polls

Lucknow: The allegation in the UP elections that AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi, was actually a `B` team of the Bharatiya Janata Party is not entirely baseless if one takes a look at election results. On several seats, Owaisi`s candidates have taken away votes that, if added to the SP-RLD combine, would have ensured the defeat of the BJP.

In UP, the BJP won 7 seats by 200 votes, 23 seats by 500 votes, 49 seats by 1000 votes, 86 seats by 2000 votes. In all these seats Owaisi has scored generously and helped BJP by dividing the opposition votes.

For instance, in Bijnor, SP-RLD got 95,720 while AIMIM got 2,290 votes. The BJP won the seat by getting 97,165 votes -- 1,445 more than the SP-RLD. The AIMIM had taken away 2,290 votes, allowing a win for the BJP.

In Nakur, the BJP polled 1,03,771 votes while SP got 1,03,616. AIMIM got 3,591 votes that allowed BJP to take the seat. Similarly, in the Kursi seat in Barabanki, the BJP polled 1,18,614 votes while SP got 1,18,094 and AIMIM got 8,541 votes.

In Sultanpur, the BJP won with 92,245 votes and SP got 90,857. The AIMIM had sliced away 5,251 votes. In the Aurai assembly seat, the AIMIM took away 2,190 votes allowing BJP to win with 93,691 votes while the Samajwadi Party got 92,044 votes.

In Shahganj, the BJP won with 76,035 votes and SP trailed with 70,370 votes. The AIMIM had taken away 7,070 votes. In Firozabad, the BJP reached the victory with 1,12,509 votes and Samajwadi Party got 79,554, while AIMIM walked away with 18,898 votes.

Political analysts feel that the AIMIM had forayed into UP politics with a definite aim to help BJP win by ensuring that the non-BJP votes do not consolidate at one place.

(Disclaimer: The facts and figures expressed in this article are those of the news agency, IANS, and it does not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Zee News.)

Fact Check:

After BJP’s resounding victory in assembly elations 2022, there were allegations that AIMIM led by Asaduddin Owaisi, was actually a `B` team of the saffron party and it indirectly helped the latter in its election victory in Uttar Pradesh. According to IANS, several AIMIM candidates had eaten votes that, if added to the SP-RLD combine, would have ensured the defeat of the BJP.

Contrary to the claims made by IANS, the victory margin of 49 candidates was less than 5,000 votes in the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, as per news agency PTI.

According to the results announced on Thursday, 25 Samajwadi Party (SP) candidates were defeated by less than 5,000 votes while a similar fate awaited three nominees of the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD). The SP and the RLD contested the polls in an alliance.

Eighteen BJP candidates also lost the poll battle by less than 5,000 votes. Allies of the saffron party - Nishad Party and Apna Dal (Sonelal) - had to face defeat by a very small margin on two seats and one seat respectively.

The narrowest victory margin was registered in Dhampur, where BJP's Ashok Kumar Rana defeated SP's Naeem-ul-Hasan by 203 votes. Sakendra Verma, the BJP candidate from Kursi, won the poll contest against SP's Rakesh Verma by 217 votes.

The SP candidates in Aliganj, Aurai, Bahraich, Chhibramau, Etawah, Faridpur, Jalalabad, Bindki, Jalesar, Katra, Madhuban, Manikpur, Madiyahun, Mohammadi, Moradabad Nagar, Nakud, Phulpur, Salon, Shahganj, Shravasti, Sitapur, Sultanpur and Tirwa lost by less than 5,000 votes. The victory margin in six of these seats was less than 1,000 votes.

The RLD candidates lost from Baraut, Nehtaur and Bijnor by 315 votes, 258 votes and 1,445 votes respectively. BJP's Kamlesh Saini was defeated by SP's Swami Omvesh by just 234 votes from Chandpur.

The saffron party lost the Ramnagar seat by 261 votes and the Isauli seat by 269 votes. The margin of defeat for the BJP candidates was less than 5,000 votes in Basti Sadar, Bhadohi, Bisauli, Dibiyapur, Dumariaganj, Ghazipur, Etawah, Jasrana, Kithor, Meja, Patiali, Farenda, Raniganj, Sareni and Zaidpur. It was less than 1,000 votes in six of these seats.

The Nishad Party lost the Handia and Kalpi seats to the SP by 3,543 votes and 2,816 votes respectively. The Apna Dal (S) nominee was defeated by the SP candidate from Bachhrawan by 2,812 votes.

The five biggest victory margins were registered by BJP candidates. Sunil Kumar Sharma recorded a historic victory in Sahibabad with a margin of 2.14 lakh votes. Pankaj Singh's victory margin in Noida was 1.81 lakh, while Amit Agarwal polled 1.18 lakh votes more than his nearest rival in Meerut Cantonment.

Purushottam Khandelwal and Srikant Sharma of the saffron party trounced their opponents by 1.12 lakh and 1.09 lakh votes from the Agra North and Mathura seats respectively. Of the 403 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP bagged 255, while its allies Apna Dal (S) got 12 and the Nishad Party got six. 

The SP won 111 seats, while its ally RLD got eight seats and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) got six seats. The Congress and the Jansatta Dal Loktantrik got two seats each and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got one seat.

Live TV