look news india
Ballia, 04 June (HS). In a close contest between BJP and SP in Salempur, SP stopped BJP from scoring a hat-trick and won this seat again after fifteen years. Election officer Ojaswi Raj handed over the certificate of victory to SP's Ramashankar Rajbhar who defeated BJP's Ravinder Kushwaha by 3573 votes.
Salempur Lok Sabha has three assembly constituencies in Ballia district, namely Belthara Road, Sikandarpur and Bansdih. While Bhatpar Rani and Salempur assembly constituencies of Deoria district are also part of it. BJP had given ticket to Ravinder Kushwaha for the third consecutive time from Salempur Lok Sabha. SP had fielded Ramashankar Rajbhar, who was once an MP, against Ravinder Kushwaha, who reached Parliament by winning the elections with a huge lead in 2014 and 2019. Due to Rajbhar's vote dent and Bahujan Samaj Party's weak performance, Ramashankar Rajbhar gave a tough fight to Ravinder Kushwaha, who came to score a hat-trick for the third consecutive time. The situation was such that in every round, both were ahead and behind each other. Many times the difference between the two was less than a hundred votes. Ultimately, Ramashankar Rajbhar of SP defeated Ravinder Kushwaha of BJP by a very small margin. Out of the total 917622 votes cast, SP got 405472 votes and BJP got 401899 votes. Here BSP got only 80599 votes.
It is noteworthy that BJP could only gain lead in Bhatpar Rani and Bansdih. Whereas SP gained decisive lead in Belthara Road, Salempur and Sikandarpur assembly constituencies. Dissatisfaction among a section of BJP supporters regarding BJP's Ravinder Kushwaha is also considered to be a reason for this defeat. Also, despite Om Prakash Rajbhar being in NDA, the scattering of Rajbhar votes became a problem for BJP. BSP's inability to even get its base vote also became a reason for BJP's defeat.