Didn’t expect win margin to be so huge: BJP’s Ramveer

Lucknow/Moradabad: Like all politicians, BJP’s Ramveer Singh dreamt of ending the losing streak of his party, but little did he know his victory would be so stylised, featuring a rout by 1.44 lakh votes of his nearest rival. Singh won the Kundarki assembly constituency, a seat BJP had been losing since 1993, defeating Samajwadi Party’s Mohammad Rizwan, who bagged 25,580.

His victory assumed more significance as it came against an all-Muslim lineup in a constituency where around 60 per cent of the electorate comes from the community. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath termed it a victory of nationalism.

“What was once a dream has become a reality today,” he said on Saturday after the results were announced. Singh claimed that when the seat became vacant, he was approached by hundreds of Muslims, who urged him to contest the bypoll. Bypolls in Kundarki were necessitated following the election of its sitting MLA, SP’s Ziaur Rehman, as the Lok Sabha MP from Sambhal parliamentary constituency earlier this year.

“I was expecting a victory margin of 50,000 to 60,000. But workers told me I would win by more than 1 lakh votes. People had a feeling of love towards me. They were disappointed by the SP, as cases were framed against lakhs of people, and thousands of them were put behind bars during the SP rule from 2012 to 2017,” Singh said. “When the seat got vacated, hundreds of Muslims came to me and asked me to seek a ticket.