UP Election Results: Congress reclaims Amethi, new Dalit leadership emerges, Maneka Gandhi loses Sultanpur

From the Congress putting up a feisty battle in Amethi, wresting its bastion from the BJP’s Smriti Irani, to young Dalit icon Chandrashekhar finding a political footing, even as one of the most senior MPs, Maneka Gandhi, lost from her seat, Sultanpur, UP results were filled with surprises, holding a long-term message for the parties involved.

AMETHI
Amethi was a prestige battle for the Congress, having lost it to the BJP in 2019. While Smriti Irani tried hard to carve an image of herself as a MP who engaged more frequently with her electorate, what with building a house there and also registering herself as a voter of Amethi, it was a lack of real work done in comparison to her lofty promises that cost the party this coveted Congress crown.


Many voters in Amethi said they had voted for Irani in 2019, but she had failed to deliver. The non-delivery was also stark considering Irani was a minister in the government with crucial portfolios like that of minister of women and child development. The MP was not unaware of this factor and was seen reminding the public in her addresses that it was Covid-19 which had shaved off two years of the work that she would have carried out in the constituency.

But Amethi, with its tag of being once a high-profile constituency under the Congress, clearly was unwilling to give Irani another chance. KL Sharma’s Brahmin credentials too worked in his favour as many Brahmins spoke against Irani on the ground, while a section of Thakurs too were upset with her.

NAGINA
In Nagina’s win by the chief of Azad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) Chandrashekhar lies a possible option for Dalits in UP when pitted against the BSP’s fall in the state. Chandrashekhar won the seat by a handsome margin of about 151,000, defeating the BJP’s Om Kumar. What made his win even more spectacular was the fact that he contested alone, without allying with either the INDIA or the NDA.

SULTANPUR
Despite her stellar record of being an MP eight times, and a personal appeal which transcended castes and communities to a great extent, Maneka Gandhi was not able to save her seat against the strong caste factor supporting the SP in the seat. The SP’s Rambhual Nishad defeated Gandhi by more than 43,000 votes.