Samajwadi Party's Nahid Hasan won the Kairana seat in the Shamli district of Uttar Pradesh by defeating Bharatiya Janata Party's Mriganka Singh by a margin of 25,887 votes.
This is for the second time in a row that Nahid Hasan has retained this seat after the 2017 Assembly elections. Nahid Hasan had defeated Mriganka Singh from the same seat in 2017 by a margin of over 21,000 votes.
Kairana is one of the most talked-about electoral battles in the state.
BJP fielded Mriganka Singh, who is the eldest daughter of late MP Hukum Singh. Notably, Hukum Singh was a three-time BJP MP from Kairana. Nahid Hasan is the son of two-time legislator Munawar Hasan. The two families have dominated Kairana's political landscape for over four decades. Hukum, then MP, had raised the exodus issue before the 2017 polls.
While campaigning in Kairana BJP has exuded confidence in winning the seat. Union Home Minister and BJP star campaigner Amit Shah had said blamed the SP for its "misgovernance" saying that it led to the migration of the people.
"When I met people who had migrated from Kairana under the misgovernance of SP, they told me that Yogi ji has improved the law and order situation. Today those who made us flee have themselves migrated," Shah had said.
Union Minister Anurag Thakur had said that the high voter turnout in Kairana assures the victory of the BJP in the state, adding that 'this wave' would become stronger as the election progresses.
"What we had said five years ago that we would free Uttar Pradesh from 'Mafiaraj' and 'Gundaraj'. The memory of the Muzaffarnagar riots and Mau riots are connected to the government of Akhilesh Yadav. Under our government, there were no such riots. There are no Nahid Hasan, Mukhtar Ansari, or Azam Khan," he had said.
Meanwhile, amid the ongoing counting of votes, BJP has crossed the majority mark by winning 216 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
As per the latest trends, BJP won 216 seats and is leading in 39 seats. BJP's allice partner Apna Dal (Sonelal) got nine seats and have leads in three seats. Samajwadi Party bagged 79 seats while is leading 32 seats.
Rashtriya Lok Dal, the alliance partner of SP won 8 seats while the Congress won two seats. Bahujan Samaj Party is still struggling to open its account.
With the BJP-led alliance set for a thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh, it will be the first time in over three decades that an incumbent government will return to power in the electorally crucial state.
( With inputs from ANI )
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