While a few ‘bahubalis’ managed wins in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, a majority of them were rejected by the voters. According to the results, many alleged dons-turned-politicians failed to make it to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly. These include Dhananjay Singh (Malhani), Vijay Mishra (Gyanpur), Yash Bhadra Singh Monu (Isauli) and Amarmani Tripathi (Nautanwa), son of Purvanchal strongman Yatra Amanmani Tripathi, who is sentenced to life imprisonment.
However, on the other hand, Raghuraj Pratap Singh alias Raja Bhaiya (Kunda) and Abhay Singh (Gosaiganj) managed to win. From Malhni seat of Jaunpur, Janta Dal (United) strongman Dhananjay Singh lost to Samajwadi Party candidate Lucky Yadav by a margin of 17,527 votes. Dhananjay, a former MP, was surrounded by several controversies prior to the elections. The Lucknow police had also announced a reward of Rs 25,000 on him in a murder case. However, in the subsequent investigation, he got a clean chit.
Another ‘bahubali’ Vijay Mishra, who has managed to be the MLA from Gyanpur since 2002, had to face defeat this time. He became the only MLA of the Nishad Party to win in 2017. However, as the party decided against fielding him this time, he switched over to the Pragatisheel Manav Samaj Party and stood third from the seat. He had made it to the Assembly in 2002, 2007 and 2012 on SP ticket. Yash Bhadra Singh Monu of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), who had unsuccessfully contested twice from Sultanpur's Isauli seat, had to face defeat once again.
Amanmani Tripathi, who was jailed earlier in a murder case, was also defeated. He was an independent candidate from the same seat in the 2017 Assembly elections, and this time, he had contested on a BSP ticket. Meanwhile Raghuraj Pratap Singh, another strongman, managed to win the elections from Kunda for the eighth consecutive term. Having been an independent candidate for long, he formed his own party Jansatta Dal Loktantrik this time. He has been the MLA from Kunda seat of Pratapgarh since 1993.
SP strongman Abhay Singh managed to win the Gosaiganj seat, a constituency he had won in 2012 but faced defeat in 2017. Mafia-turned-politician Brijesh Singh's nephew Sushil managed to win the election from Sayedaraja seat, thereby becoming an MLA for the fourth time. In 2007, he had won the election from Dhanapur seat on a BSP ticket while in 2012, he was elected MLA from Sakaldiha.0
Mukhtar Ansari, who won the MLA seat from Mau Sadar on several occasions, did not contest the election this time but his son Abbas Ansari managed to make it to the Assembly from the senior Ansari’s bastion. Abbas was elected MLA from Mau Sadar seat on the ticket of SP ally Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party. He defeated his nearest rival Ashok Kumar Singh of the BJP by more than 38,000 votes.
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