UNITED THEY STAND

BEYOND MAINPURI, THE RLD'S KHATAULI WIN WAS POWERED BY A NEW ALLIANCE: JATS, GUJJARS, MUSLIMS, DALITS

- By Prashant Srivastava

The results to the three bypolls in Uttar Pradesh have brought several positives for the Samajwadi Party (SP)-led Opposition—despite their upset loss in Rampur Sadar—and given much to reflect over for the ruling BJP, which may now have to rethink its 2024 strategy. The 288,000-plus victory margin for Dimple Yadav in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha seat has left it in shock—it was expecting at least a close fight in the SP bastion, if not a second upset win. Even the late Mulayam Singh Yadav, four-time MP from here, had won only with 93,000-odd votes in 2019. Says SP spokesperson Dr Ashutosh Verma, “The BJP had claimed that by fielding a Shakya candidate, it would get all non-Yadav OBC votes. However, even Shakya voters supported us.”