Suar By Election Result 2023: How BJP and ally Apna Dal end Azam Khan's stronghold over Rampur seats

Suar By Election Result 2023: Ever since the election for the Suar Assembly seat in Rampur was declared after the then MLA, Abdullah Azam Khan, lost his membership from the Legislative Assembly, it was evident that retaining the seat wouldn't be an easy task for Samajwadi Party (SP), given that it had lost the Rampur (Sadar) seat in December last year.

But it was also clear that the Bharatiya Janata Party or a candidate backed by it would face a stern test on the seat that has been a stronghold for former Uttar Pradesh minister Azam Khan. 

The BJP didn't field its own candidate and backed Shafeek Ahmed Ansari, a candidate from its ally, the Apna Dal (Sonelal).

He was pitted against Samajwadi Party's Anuradha Chauhan, from the seat.

Shafeek had been the chairman of the Municipal corporation from Suar and had loyal supporters from the seat.

However, winning an Assembly election is a different ball-game altogether, and the local support of a town on its own doesn't guarantee an MLA seat.

However, his fortunes prospered when the BJP backed him for the Assembly election.

Though the SP had lost the Rampur (Sadar) seat, it was assumed that the SP candidate would have an upper hand given Azam and Abdullah's sway and the sentimental support the duo got after their disqualification following conviction in different court cases. 

Suar By Election Result 2023: Rampur (Sadar) history

Azam Khan or a family member had been the MLA from the Sadar seat for 20 years (2002-2022).

From 1980 to 1995, Azam Khan had been the MLA on the same seat for 15 years.

A large section of their supporters was under the impression that unfair treatment was meted out to the father-son duo by the ruling BJP in the state.

Ever since the constituency was formed in 1952, the BJP has never tasted victory on the seat.

But its candidate was Akash Saxena, the son of Shiv Bahadur Saxena — four-time MLA from the Suar seat.

What looked like a David vs David battle turned out to be a David vs Goliath contest as Akash decimated his opponent by 34,000 votes to become the first BJP MLA from the seat.

The SP alleged that its voters were deliberately stopped by the police from voting, but the margin was large, and that couldn't have been the factor.
 

Suar By Election Result 2023: Fight for Suar 

The defeat in Rampur (Sadar) set off an alarm bell for the Khans, who feared another jolt.

Suar MLA Abdullah was disqualified by the Legislative Assembly in February after being found guilty in a 2007 case.

The bypoll was announced for the Assembly in March.

Given its record on the seat in the last 20 years, the BJP didn't field its candidate and played it safe by backing Shafeek from the Apna Dal (S).

However, campaigning ahead of the poll indicated that he was going to have a tough fight against the SP's Anuradha, who was drawing huge crowds in her rallies. 

As the counting began today (May 13), Anuradha took the initial lead, but that turned out to be short-lived as Shafeek snatched it after the opening round.

He raced to a substantial lead after a couple of rounds until the ninth round, when Anuradha led for the first time with roughly 350 votes.

However, it was not for long as Shafeek snatched back the lead in the 10th round.  

After the 16th round, the Apna Dal candidate swelled his lead to 5,253 votes.

The lead never went below 5,800 votes after that and by the 20th round, the writing was on the wall.

A lead of 8,530 votes after Round 20 made it clear that the SP candidate was most likely to end up second-best.

As the results were declared around 1PM and Shafeek (68,513 votes) won the contest by 8,824 votes against Anuradha (59,689 votes), it was evident that the last fortress of the Khans had been breached. Rampur Sadat and Suar seats fell to the BJP and its ally.