RLD's Tabassum Hasan beat BJP's Mriganka Singh by a margin of 44,618 votes.
The RLD win in Uttar Pradesh's Kairana bypolls was nothing short of extraordinary. For a party that had 'zero' representation in both the Parliament and state legislatures, this win is surely a morale booster and a resurgence.
The victory of Rashtriya Lok Dal's Tabassum Hasan in the Kairana by-election on Thursday is of special significance for the party banking on the legacy of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh.
RLD had no MP and its lone MLA Sahender Singh Ramala in Uttar Pradesh had switched to the BJP ahead of the Kairana bypoll, leaving the party high and dry in the country's most populous state.
But Thursday's bypoll result, propelling Hasan, who was backed by the opposition, to parliament has infused new life in the RLD.
"Once the bypoll results were announced, the mood at the RLD's office in Lucknow was upbeat, and party workers and leaders played Holi to celebrate the moment," said state RLD chief Masood Ahmad.
"The victory of the RLD in Kairana is a victory for the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) and also a victory for those who had reposed their faith in the ideology and policies of former prime minister Chaudhary Charan Singh," he added.
The win comes after a dry run in the hustings. In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, RLD candidates had to forfeit their deposits in six of the eight Lok Sabha seats they contested from Uttar Pradesh. The party managed to poll only 0.86 per cent of the total votes in the state.
The party's performance was equally dismal in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections -- RLD contested 277 assembly seats but 266 of its candidates lost their deposits. Only one RLD candidate emerged victorious. But he, too, left the RLD for BJP pastures a month ago on April 30.
According to state RLD chief Ahmad, farmers and youngsters were feeling duped by the wrong policies of the Centre and Uttar Pradesh governments.
"The bypolls to Kairana and Noorpur are also perceived as a victory of secular forces over the communal forces," he said in a statement.
The state's ruling BJP yesterday suffered a stunning electoral upset with joint opposition candidates posting victories in not just Kairana but also the Noorpur assembly constituency, which went to the Samajwadi Party.
"My victory has proved that the path of the united opposition is clear in 2019," Tabassum Hasan said after the win.
The opposition victories follow the BJP defeats in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in March, and come just a year before the general election.
(With PTI inputs)
