Mixed impact of recent flashpoints in 3 districts

Lucknow: Results of three districts-- Kaiserganj, Lakhimpur Kheri and Barabanki— that hogged the limelight for wrong reasons -- show that despite wide media coverage there was mixed impact on the voting pattern.
In Kaiserganj, the BJP denied ticket to sitting MP Brij Bhushan Singh and instead fielded his son Karan Bhushan Singh. Brij Bhushan, a former president of the Wrestling Federation of India, had been accused of sexual assault by some of India’s top women wrestlers.More recently, two persons were killed, and one injured after a vehicle in Karan’s convoy hit them in Gonda.
Despite this, junior Singh, a national player in the double trap shooting, defeated India bloc candidate Bhagat Ram and won by a margin of 1.4 lakh votes. “BJP has strong hold in Kaiserganj. Moreover, bhaiya (Karan) has a reputation of a trustworthy individual and helpful leader,” said Atul Tiwari, a 23-year-old student from Belsar block in Kaiserganj.
In the reserved (SC) constituency of Barabanki, where sitting BJP MP Upendra Singh Rawat’s ‘fake’ obscene video surfaced on social media, Congress candidate Tanuj Punia won by a margin of 2.1 lakh votes. Here, the BJP had fielded Rawat but after his video scandal, he was replaced by Rajrani Rawat, a member of Barabanki’s zila panchayat.
“Though Rajrani holds a decent image here, but Punia’s win was predictable. He carries his father’s legacy and was seen among the locals and hearing out their problems,” said 62-year-old Satendra Pandey of Markhapur village.
Similarly, BJP lost in Lakhimpur Kheri which was a flash point for farmers’ agitation and where son of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra Teni in the BJP govt trampled farmers to death three years ago. Three BJP supporters were lynched in retaliation. Teni lost to INDIA bloc candidate Utkarsh Verma ‘Madhur’.
Political analyst Prof SK Pandey said: "I don't feel BJP's defeat in Barabanki and Kheri was because of some flash point cases. Had it been so, they would have lost Kaiserganj also. In fact, in Kheri the BJP won all eight seats in assembly poll that occurred right after farmer killings. Choice of candidates is a key reason for defeat."