2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

2007 Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly election

← 2002 7 April 2007 (2007-04-07) – 8 May 2007 (2007-05-08) 2012 →
All 403 seats of the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly 202 seats needed for a majority
Turnout	45.96%
Majority party Minority party Third party   Leader Mayawati Mulayam Singh Yadav Rajnath Singh Party BSP SP BJP Alliance None None NDA Leader since 2007 2003 2005 Leader's seat MLC Gunnaur[1] Not Contested Last election 98 143 88 Seats won 206 97 51 Seat change 108 46 37 Popular vote 15,872,561 13,267,674 8,851,199 Percentage 30.43% 25.43% 16.97% Swing 7.37% 0.06% 3.11%   Fourth party   Leader Sonia Gandhi Party INC Leader's seat Not Contested Last election 25 Seats won 22 Seat change 3 Popular vote 4,489,234 Percentage 8.61% Swing 0.35%
Chief Minister before election Mulayam Singh Yadav Samajwadi Party Elected Chief Minister Mayawati Bahujan Samaj Party

The Uttar Pradesh legislative assembly election, 2007 was held in April–May 2007. It was held to elect a government for the state of Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) in India.

Background[]

With 166 million people, U.P. is about the size of France, Germany, and the Benelux nations combined. There are 113 million voters, and 403 electoral seats, with an average of a quarter of a million voters in each constituency. The elections were conducted for 403 seats at 110,000 polling stations under very strict guidelines by the autonomous Election Commission of India. More than 46% of the electorate cast their votes.

Schedule[]

The election was held in seven phases:

• Phase 1 : 2007-04-07
• Phase 2 : 2007-04-13
• Phase 3 : 2007-04-18
• Phase 4 : 2007-04-23
• Phase 5 : 2007-04-28
• Phase 6 : 2007-05-03
• Phase 7 : 2007-05-08

Parties[]

A total of 129 parties fielded 2,487 candidates, while 2020 candidates stood as independents, for the total of 406 seats.

List of winners[]

This is the list of winners consolidated from the Election Commission of India party-wise results pages (ECI website).

No.	Constituency	Party	Elected Representative	ECI results website
001	Seohara	BSP	Aditya Singh	results: 01
002	Dhampur	BSP	Irshad Ahmad	results: 02
003	Afzalgarh	BSP	Muhammad Gazi	results: 03
004	Nagina	BSP	Omwati Devi	results: 04
005	Najibabad	BSP	Sheesharam Singh	results: 05
006	Bijnor	BSP	(S/O Badrujama)	results: 06
007	Chandpur	BSP	Iqbal	results: 07
008	Kanth	BSP	Rizwan Ahmad Khan	results: 08
009	Amroha	SP		results: 09
010	Hasanpur	BSP	Ferhat Hasan	results: 10
012	Sambhal	SP	Iqbal Mehmood	results: 12
013	Bahjoi	BSP		results: 13
014	Chandausi	BSP	Girish Chandra	results: 14
015		BSP		results: 15
016		BJP		results: 16
017	Moradabad	SP		results: 17
018		SP	Usmanul Haq	results: 18
019	Thakurdwara	BSP	Urf	results: 19
020		SP		results: 20
021	Rampur	SP		results: 21
022	Bilaspur	Congress	Sanjay Kapoor	results: 22
023	Shahabad	BJP		results: 23
024	Bisauli	RPD	Umlesh Yadav	results: 24
025	Gunnaur	SP	Mulayam Singh Yadav	results: 25
026	Sahaswan	RPD	Dhram Pal Yadav (D. P. Yadav)	results: 26
027	Bilsi	BSP	Urf Anu	results: 27
028	Budaun	BJP		results: 28
029	Usehat	BSP	Muslim Khan (politician)	results: 29
030	Binawar	BJS		results: 30
031	Dataganj	BSP	Sinod Kumar Shakya a. Deepu Bhaiya	results: 31
032	Aonla	BSP		results: 32
033		SP		results: 33
034	Faridpur	BSP		results: 34
035	Bareilly Cantonment	BSP	Virendra Singh	results: 35
036		BJP	Rajesh Agarwal	results: 36
037	Nawabganj	SP	Bhagwat Saran Gangwar	results: 37
038		BSP	Shazil Islam Ansari	results: 38
039	Kawar	SP		results: 39
040	Baheri	BJP		results: 40
041	Pilibhit	SP	Riaz Ahmad	results: 41
042	Barkhera	BJP		results: 42
043	Bisalpur	BSP	Urf Phool Babu	results: 43
044	Puranpur	BSP		results: 44
045	Powayan	SP		results: 45
046		BSP	Roshan Lal	results: 46
047	Tilhar	SP	Rajesh Yadav (politician)	results: 47
048	Jalalabad	BSP		results: 48
049		BSP		results: 49
050	Shahjahanpur	BJP	Suresh Kumar Khanna	results: 50
051		BJP	Krishna Raj	results: 51
052		SP	Arvind Giri	results: 52
053	Paila	BSP		results: 53
054	Lakhimpur	SP		results: 54
055	Srinagar	SP		results: 55
056		SP	Krishna Gopal Patel	results: 56
057	Dhaurehra	BSP		results: 57
058		SP	Mahendra Kumar Singh	results: 58
059	Biswan	BSP		results: 59
060	Mahmudabad	SP	Narendra Singh	results: 60
061	Sidhauli	BSP		results: 61
062	Laharpur	BSP		results: 62
063	Sitapur	SP	Radhey Shyam Jaisawal	results: 63
064	Hargaon	BSP	Ramhet Bharti	results: 64
065	Misrikh	SP		results: 65
066	Machhrehta	SP		results: 66
067	Beniganj	BSP		results: 67
068	Sandila	BSP	Abdul Mannan	results: 68
069		BSP		results: 69
070	Hardoi	SP	Naresh Chandra Agarwal	results: 70
071	Bawan	BSP		results: 71
072	Pihani	BSP		results: 72
073	Shahabad	BSP		results: 73
074	Bilgram	BSP		results: 74
075	Mallawan	BSP		results: 75
076	Bangarmau	SP	Kuldeep Singh Sengar	results: 76
077	Safipur	SP	Sudhir Kumar	results: 77
078	Unnao	SP		results: 78
079		SP		results: 79
080		BSP		results: 80
081	Purwa	SP		results: 81
082	Hasanganj	BSP		results: 82
083	Malihabad	SP	Gauri Shankar	results: 83
084	Mahona	BSP	Nakul Dubey	results: 84
085		BJP	Vidya Sagar Gupta	results: 85
086		BJP	Lal Ji Tandon	results: 86
087	Lucknow Central	BJP	Suresh Kumar Srivastava	results: 87
088		BJP	Suresh Chandra Tiwari	results: 88
089		BSP		results: 89
090	Mohanlalganj	R.Sw.P.		results: 90
091	Bachhrawan	Congress		results: 91
092	Tiloi	SP	Mayankeshwar Sharan Singh	results: 92
093	Rae Bareli	Ind	Akhilesh Kumar Singh	results: 93
094	Sataon	Congress		results: 94
095	Sareni	Congress		results: 95
096	Dalmau	Congress	Ajay Pal Singh	results: 96
097	Salon	Congress		results: 97
098	Kunda	Ind	Raghuraj Pratap Singh	results: 98
099	Bihar	Ind		results: 99
100		Congress	Pramod Kumar	results: 100
101		BSP		results: 101
102	Pratapgarh	BSP	Sanjay Singh	results: 102
103		BSP		results: 103
104	Patti	BJP		results: 104
105	Amethi	Congress	Ameeta Singh	results: 105
106	Gauriganj	BSP	Chandra Prakash	results: 106
107	Jagdishpur	Congress	Ram Sewak	results: 107
108		SP		results: 108
109	Sultanpur	SP		results: 109
110	Jaisinghpur	BSP		results: 110
111		BSP		results: 111
112	Kadipur	BSP		results: 112
113		BSP		results: 113
114	Akbarpur	BSP		results: 114
115	Jalalpur	BSP	Sher Bahadur	results: 115
116	Jahangirganj	BSP		results: 116
117	Tanda	BSP		results: 117
118	Ayodhya	BJP	Lallu Singh	results: 118
119	Bikapur	BSP	Jitendra Kumar Bablu Bhaiya	results: 119
120	Milkipur	BSP	Anand Sen	results: 120
121	Sohawal	SP		results: 121
122	Rudauli	SP	Alias	results: 122
123	Dariyabad	SP	Rajeev Kumar Singh	results: 123
124	Siddhaur	BSP		results: 124
125	Haidergarh	SP		results: 125
126		BSP		results: 126
127	Nawabganj	BSP		results: 127
128	Fatehpur	BSP		results: 128
129	Ramnagar	BSP		results: 129
130		BSP		results: 130
131		BSP		results: 131
132		BJP		results: 132
133	Nanpara	BSP		results: 133
134		SP		results: 134
135	Bhinga	BSP		results: 135
136	Bahraich	SP		results: 136
137	Ikauna	BSP		results: 137
138	Gainsari	BSP		results: 138
139	Tulsipur	BJP		results: 139
140	Balrampur	BSP	Dhirendra Pratap Singh	results: 140
141	Utraula	BJP		results: 141
142	Sadullanagar	SP		results: 142
143	Mankapur	SP		results: 143
144		SP		results: 144
145	Gonda	BSP		results: 145
146		SP		results: 146
147	Colonelganj	Congress	Ajay Pratap Singh alias	results: 147
148		BSP		results: 148
149	Harraiya	SP	Raj Kishore Singh	results: 149
150		BSP	Ram Prasad Chaudhary	results: 150
151		BSP		results: 151
152	Basti	BSP		results: 152
153	Ramnagar	BSP		results: 153
154	Domariaganj	BSP		results: 154
155		SP	Mata Prasad Pandey	results: 155
156	Shohratgarh	Congress		results: 156
157	Naugarh	Congress	Ishwar Chandra Shukla	results: 157
158	Bansi	SP		results: 158
159		BSP		results: 159
160		SP		results: 160
161	Khalilabad	BSP		results: 161
162		SP		results: 162
163	Bansgaon	BSP		results: 163
164		SP	Rajendra Singh (politician) Urf	results: 164
165		BSP		results: 165
166	Kauriram	BSP		results: 166
167	Mundera Bazar	Congress		results: 167
168	Pipraich	BSP	Jamuna Nisad	results: 168
169	Gorakhpur	BJP		results: 169
170	Maniram	BJP	Vijay Bahadur Yadav	results: 170
171	Sahjanwa	Ind		results: 171
172	Paniara	BSP		results: 172
173	Pharenda	BJP	Bajrang Bahadur Singh (politician)	results: 173
174	Lakshmipur	SP	Amar Mani	results: 174
175		BJP		results: 175
176	Maharajganj	SP		results: 176
177		SP		results: 177
178		BJP		results: 178
179	Ramkola	BJP	Alias Atul	results: 179
180	Hata	BJP	Alias Ramakant	results: 180
181	Padrauna	Congress		results: 181
182		SP		results: 182
183	Fazilnagar	SP		results: 183
184		SP		results: 184
185	Gauri Bazar	BSP	Pramod Singh	results: 185
186	Rudrapur	BSP		results: 186
187	Deoria	SP		results: 187
188	Bhatpar Rani	SP		results: 188
189	Salempur	SP		results: 189
190		BSP		results: 190
191		BSP		results: 191
192	Ghosi	BSP		results: 192
193	Sagari	SP		results: 193
194		BSP		results: 194
195	Azamgarh	SP	Durga Prasad Yadav	results: 195
196	Nizamabad	BSP		results: 196
197	Atraulia	BSP		results: 197
198	Phulpur	SP	Arun Kumar Yadav	results: 198
199		SP	Bhola	results: 199
200	Mehnagar	BSP	Vidya Chaudhary	results: 200
201	Lalganj	BSP	Sukhdeo	results: 201
202	Mubarakpur	BSP	Chandradeo	results: 202
203		BSP	Rajendra Kumar (politician)	results: 203
204	Mau	Ind	Mukhtar Ansari	results: 204
205	Rasra	BSP	Ghoora Ram	results: 205
206		BSP	Kedarnath Verma	results: 206
207		SP		results: 207
208	Sikandarpur	BSP	Shribhagwan	results: 208
209	Bansdih	BSP	Shiv Shanker	results: 209
210	Doaba	BSP	Subhash	results: 210
211	Ballia	BSP	Manju	results: 211
212		SP		results: 212
213	Zahoorabad	BSP		results: 213
214		SP	Sibagtulla Ansari	results: 214
215	Dildarnagar	BSP	Pashupati	results: 215
216	Zamania	BSP	Raj Kumar	results: 216
217	Ghazipur	SP	Saiyyada Shadab Fatima	results: 217
218	Jakhania	BSP	Vijay Kumar	results: 218
219	Sadat	BSP	Amerika	results: 219
220	Saidpur	BSP	Dinanath Pandey	results: 220
221	Dhanapur	BSP		results: 221
222	Chandauli	BSP		results: 222
223	Chakia	BSP	Jitendra Kumar	results: 223
224	Mughalsarai	SP		results: 224
225	Varanasi Cantt.	BJP		results: 225
226	Varanasi South	BJP		results: 226
227	Varanasi North	SP		results: 227
228		BSP		results: 228
229		BJP	Ajay Rai	results: 229
230	Gangapur	SP	Surendra Singh Patel	results: 230
231	Aurai	BSP		results: 231
232	Gyanpur	SP	Vijay Kumar	results: 232
233	Bhadohi	BSP		results: 233
234		BSP	Ravindra Nath Tripathi	results: 234
235	Mariahu	BSP		results: 235
236	Kerakat	BSP		results: 236
237		BSP		results: 237
238	Jaunpur	SP		results: 238
239	Rari	JD(U)		results: 239
240	Shahganj	SP	Jagdish Sonkar	results: 240
241		SP	Shailendra Yadav Lalai	results: 241
242		BJP		results: 242
243	Machhlishahr	BSP		results: 243
244	Dudhi	BSP		results: 244
245	Robertsganj	BSP		results: 245
246		BSP	Anil Kumar Maurya	results: 246
247	Chunar	BJP	Om Prakash Singh	results: 247
248		BSP		results: 248
249	Mirzapur	SP		results: 249
250		BSP		results: 250
251	Meja	BSP		results: 251
252	Karchana	BSP	Anand Kumar (politician) Alias	results: 252
253		BJP		results: 253
254	Jhusi	BSP		results: 254
255	Handia	BSP		results: 255
256		SP		results: 256
257	Soraon	BSP		results: 257
258		BSP		results: 258
259		Congress	Anugrah Narayan Singh	results: 259
260		BSP		results: 260
261		BSP	Pooja Pal	results: 261
262	Chail	BSP		results: 262
263	Manjhanpur	BSP		results: 263
264	Sirathu	BSP		results: 264
266	Kishunpur	BSP		results: 266
267		BSP	Ayodhya Prasad Pal	results: 267
268	Fatehpur	BJP		results: 268
269	Jahanabad	BSP		results: 269
270	Bindki	BSP		results: 270
271		SP	Irfan Solanki	results: 271
272		Congress		results: 272
273		BJP	Salil Vishnoi	results: 273
274	Kanpur Cantonment	BJP	Satish Mahana	results: 274
275		Congress	Ajay Kapoor (politician)	results: 275
276	Kalyanpur	BJP	Premlata Katiyar	results: 276
277	Sarsaul	SP		results: 277
278	Ghatampur	BSP		results: 278
279	Bhognipur	BSP		results: 279
280	Rajpur	BSP		results: 280
281		SP	Ram Swaroop Singh	results: 281
282		BSP	Pratibha Shukla	results: 282
283	Bilhaur	BSP		results: 283
284	Derapur	BSP		results: 284
285	Auraiya	BSP		results: 285
286	Ajitmal	BSP	Ashok Kumar (politician)	results: 286
287		BSP		results: 287
288	Etawah	SP		results: 288
289	Jaswantnagar	SP	Shivpal Singh Yadav	results: 289
290	Bharthana	SP	Mulayam Singh Yadav	results: 290
291	Bidhuna	SP		results: 291
292	Kannauj	SP	Anil Kumar	results: 292
293		BSP	Kailash Singh Rajput	results: 293
294	Chhibramau	SP		results: 294
295	Kamalganj	BSP		results: 295
296	Farrukhabad	SP		results: 296
297	Kaimganj	BSP		results: 297
298		SP	Narendra Singh	results: 298
299	Manikpur	BSP		results: 299
300	Karwi	BSP		results: 300
301	Baberu	SP	Vishambhar Singh Yadav	results: 301
302	Tindwari	SP		results: 302
303	Banda	Congress		results: 303
304	Naraini	BSP	Purushottam Naresh	results: 304
305	Hamirpur	SP	Ashok Kumar Singh Chandel	results: 305
306	Maudaha	BSP		results: 306
307	Rath	BSP		results: 307
308	Charkhari	BSP		results: 308
309	Mahoba	BSP	Rakesh Kumar (politician)	results: 309
310	Mehroni	BSP		results: 310
311	Lalitpur	BSP		results: 311
312	Jhansi	Congress	Pradeep Jain Aditya	results: 312
313	Babina	BSP		results: 313
314	Mauranipur	BSP	Bhagwati Prasad Sagar	results: 314
315		SP		results: 315
316	Konch	BSP	Ajay Singh	results: 316
317	Orai	Congress		results: 317
318	Kalpi	BSP		results: 318
319	Madhogarh	BSP	Hari Om	results: 319
320	Bhongaon	SP	Alok Kumar	results: 320
321	Kishni	SP		results: 321
322	Karhal	SP	Sobaran Singh	results: 322
323	Shikohabad	Ind	(S/O Maheshwar Singh)	results: 323
324	Jasrana	Ind		results: 324
325		BSP		results: 325
326	Mainpuri	BJP		results: 326
327	Aliganj	BSP		results: 327
328		BSP	Ajay Yadav	results: 328
329	Sakit	SP		results: 329
330	Soron	BSP		results: 330
331	Kasganj	BSP	Hasrat Ullah Sherwani	results: 331
332	Etah	BJP		results: 332
333	Nidhauli Kalan	SP		results: 333
334	Jalesar	BJP		results: 334
335	Firozabad	BSP	Nasir Uddin	results: 335
336	Bah	BSP		results: 336
337	Fatehabad	BJP	Rajendra Singh (politician)	results: 337
338	Tundla	BSP	Rakesh Babu	results: 338
339	Etmadpur	BSP		results: 339
340	Dayalbagh	Jan Morcha		results: 340
341	Agra Cantonment	BSP		results: 341
342	Agra East	BJP		results: 342
343	Agra West	BSP		results: 343
344	Kheragarh	BSP	Bhagwan Singh Kushwaha	results: 344
345	Fatehpur Sikri	BSP		results: 345
346	Goverdhan	RLD	Puran Prakash	results: 346
347	Mathura	Congress	Pradeep Mathur	results: 347
348	Chhata	BSP		results: 348
349	Mat	ABLC	Shyam Sunder Sharma	results: 349
350	Gokul	BSP	Raj Kumar Rawat	results: 350
351	Sadabad	RLD		results: 351
352	Hathras	BSP		results: 352
353	Sasni	BSP	Genda Lal Chaudhary	results: 353
354		BJP		results: 354
355		BJP	Ram Singh (politician)	results: 355
356	Atrauli	BJP		results: 356
357	Aligarh	SP		results: 357
358	Koil	BSP	Mahendra Singh (politician)	results: 358
359	Iglas	RLD		results: 359
360	Barauli	BSP	Thakur Jaiveer Singh	results: 360
361	Khair	RLD	Satya Pal Singh	results: 361
362	Jewar	BSP		results: 362
363	Khurja	BSP	Anil Kumar	results: 363
364		BSP	Shri Bhagwan Sharma	results: 364
365	Anupshahr	BSP	Gajendra Singh (politician)	results: 365
366	Siana	BJP		results: 366
367		BJP	Virendra Singh Sirohi	results: 367
368	Bulandshahr	BSP		results: 368
369	Shikarpur	BSP		results: 369
370	Sikandrabad	BSP	Vedram Bhati	results: 370
371	Dadri	BSP	Satveer Singh Gurjar	results: 371
372	Ghaziabad	BJP	Sunil Kumar Sharma	results: 372
373	Muradnagar	Ind		results: 373
374	Modinagar	BSP		results: 374
375	Hapur	BSP	(S/O Ram Kishan)	results: 375
376	Garhmukteshwar	SP	Madan Chouhan	results: 376
377		SP	Shahid Manzoor	results: 377
378	Hastinapur	BSP	Yogesh Verma	results: 378
379	Sardhana	BSP		results: 379
380	Meerut Cantonment	BJP		results: 380
381	Meerut		Yaqub Qureishi	results: 381
382		BSP		results: 382
383		BSP		results: 383
384	Khekra	RLD	Madan Bhaiya	results: 384
385	Baghpat	RLD	Kaukab Hameed Khan	results: 385
386		RLD		results: 386
387	Chhaprauli	RLD		results: 387
388	Kandhla	BSP		results: 388
389	Khatauli	BSP		results: 389
390	Jansath	BSP		results: 390
391		RLD	Kadir Rana	results: 391
392	Muzaffarnagar	BJP		results: 392
393		BSP	Anil Kumar	results: 393
394	Baghra	Congress	Pankaj Kumar	results: 394
395	Kairana	BJP	Hukum Singh	results: 395
396	Thana Bhawan	RLD	Abdul Warish Khan	results: 396
397	Nakur	BSP		results: 397
398	Sarsawa	BSP		results: 398
399	Nagal	BSP	(Molhu)	results: 399
400	Deoband	BSP		results: 400
401		BSP	Jagpal	results: 401
402	Saharanpur	BJP		results: 402
403	Muzaffarabad	Ind	Imran Masood	results: 403

Criminalisation in the U.P. 2007 elections[]

The number of criminal-politicians participating in the elections have been growing, particularly because they have been successful in the past. In the U.P. Assembly elections, 2002, candidates with criminal records won 206 out of 403 seats in the assembly, i.e. more criminals were elected than regular politicians.^[2]

In 2007, the participation by criminals increased significantly. Prior to elections, 74% more criminal politicians were given tickets by the mainstream parties (Source: UP Election Watch, independent NGO headed by ex-DIG Ishwar P. Dwivedi^[3]):

1. Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP): 36.27%
2. Samajwadi Party (SP): 27.01%
3. Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP): 23.05%
4. Indian National Congress (INC) : 21.60%

The Election Commission of India, the autonomous body charged with conducting elections, was facing intense media pressure to check criminalization related irregularities in the electoral process. Extremely strict measures were enforced, bringing in 639 companies of paramilitary forces to prevent musclepower effects. Any deviations from prescribed norms led to candidates being debarred. To help manage the situation, elections were held in seven stages.

At least six candidates campaigned from jails, broadcasting live speeches through illegal mobile phones smuggled into their jail cells while jailors looked the other way.

However, partially owing to the strict measures adopted during elections, only 100 persons with criminal records won the elections (as opposed to 206 in the previous elections). These include the elected Chief Minister Mayawati, who is facing embezzlement charges stemming from the Rs.175 crore (US$40 million) Case, the leader of the opposition Mulayam Singh Yadav, and other ganglords and hardened criminals (see Criminal-Politicians below). In many of these instances, opposition campaigners did not feel safe enough to put up a vibrant campaign, and in some situations, the mainstream parties reached alliances with the criminals and did not put up serious competition (e.g., Mukhtar Ansari). However, to some extent, these victories may also reflect a perception that these criminal politicians are able to deliver some level of well-being to their communities.

For example, the Soraon Assembly constituency in Allahabad district is one where all 11 candidates in the fray had criminal cases pending against them. Here Mohd. Mustaba Siddiqi of the Bahujan Samaj Party (38280 votes, 29.41%) defeated Mohd. Ayub of the Samajwadi Party (32739/25.15%).^[4]

Alleged and convicted criminal-politicians who won[]

Samajwadi Party[]

• Mukhtar Ansari, (Independent, supported by Samajwadi Party): won as (Independent) from Mau, while he was in Jhansi jail, facing charges in the murder of BJP ganglord-MLA from Ghazipur, Krishnanand Rai. His brother Afzal Ansari became the Lok Sabha MP from Ghazipur, after Krishnanand Rai was killed, and is also in jail for the murder, which was apparently executed by the Munna Bajrangi gang which is known to be close to the Ansari's. Mukhtar is named in 29 criminal cases (the third highest in these elections), but is close to Mulayam Singh Yadav, and the Samajwadi Party did not put up a candidate against him. He also is said to be close to Sonia Gandhi's Indian National Congress party, who put up only a dummy candidate, Gopal, against him; Gopal garnered only three thousand votes and lost his deposit. A large faction of the Mau Congress executive committee members had resigned en masse to protest against choosing such a dummy candidate.

Despite Mukhtar's muscle power however, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) candidate Vijay Pratap managed to garner 42% of the vote, and Mukhtar won by seven thousand votes (47%) only^[5] Currently lodged at Gorakhpur Jail, where his case might take a long time to come to trial. He won the Lakshmipur Constituency seat in Gorakhpur District by a margin of nearly 20 thousand votes (12%).

• Raghuraj Pratap Singh (Independent, supported by Samajwadi Party/Bharatiya Janata Party): alias Raja Bhaiyya, with 35 criminal cases filed against him. Raja Bhaiyya is from the princely family of Kunda. A skull found in a palace pond allegedly belongs to scooterist Santosh Misra who was guilty of daring to overtake his convoy. He won as an independent from Kunda with an overwhelming margin of 53,000 votes (48%) over Shiv Prakash Mishra of the BSP.
• Mukhtar Ansari's eldest brother Sibakatullah Ansari (Samajwadi Party): won from , which used to be the constituency for the slain BJP MLA Krishnanand Rai. Shibakatullah defeated Krishnanand's wife Alka Rai (BJP), who was standing on a platform of seeking justice for the murder of her husband, apparently by the Ansari's
• alias Sonu (Samajwadi Party), from in Sultanpur district, is accused, along with seven others, in the murder of the gangster-Saint Gyaneshwar in Allahabad. After Mayawati's accession to power, Chandrabhadra was arrested as one of her first directives

Bahujan Samaj Party[]

• (BSP): Don from Maudaha, is facing six criminal charges, including attempted murder, extortion, and kidnapping. Won at Maudaha by defeating Apni Chiraiya Prajapati of the Samajwadi Party by a margin of 17 thousand votes (15%). Currently a Minister of State in the Mayawati cabinet.^[6]
• Anand Sen Yadav, (BSP): Son of BSP gangster Member of Parliament Mitra Sen Yadav (currently being investigated in the human trafficking scam along with Babulal Katara). Anand, who is in Jail facing over 12 cases including murder and extortion,^[6] won from Milkipur,^[7] and has been appointed Minister of State in the Mayawati cabinet.
• or Daddan Misra (BSP), from Bhinga. According to his election affidavit,^[8] Daddan has cases registered under IPC 147, 148, 199, 448, 453, 323, 427, 511;^[9]
• Jamuna Nishad from Pipraich (cabinet minister, resigned on 2008-06-08 after being named in the murder of a policeman.^[10])
• (BSP), won from Aliganj and is currently Minister of State.
• (BSP) from (cabinet minister).
• Shazil Islam Ansari (BSP): won from , and appointed a minister of state in Maya cabinet.

Out of 19 ministers of state in the Mayawati cabinet, eight have violent criminal charges pending against them.^[6]

Rashtriya Parivartan Dal[]

• D. P. Yadav, mafia don and erstwhile liquor baron from Western U.P. (Rashtriya Parivartan Dal): Scraped through from Sahaswan, with a 109-vote margin (0.1%) over the Samajwadi Party incumbent Omkar Singh^[11]
• D. P. Yadav's wife Umlesh Yadav (Rashtriya Parivartan Dal) won more handily from Bisauli, defeating incumbent Samajwadi Party legislator Yogendra Singh Kunnu with a margin of 13,400 votes (10%).^[12]

^[13]

Alleged and convicted criminal-politicians who lost[]

Rashtriya Lok Dal[]

• Chhotelal Vishwakarma of Rashtriya Lok Dal, with 24 cases against him,^[3] lost from Gangapur in Varanasi District. He polled only two thousand votes and lost his deposit. Surendra Singh Patel of the Samajwadi Party won from this constituency with a lead of ten thousand votes (6%) over Neel Ratan Patel of Apna Dal.

Apna Dal/Bharatiya Janata Party[]

• Pawan Pandey (Apna Dal, supported by Bharatiya Janata Party), who has 63 criminal cases pending against him (the highest number of cases pending against any candidate in this election^[14]) lost in Akbarpur, trailing the winner Ram Achal Rajbhar of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) by nearly twelve thousand votes (13%).
• Abhay Singh, a criminal-politician in jail charged with several murder cases against him, fielded his wife Sarita Singh on Apna Dal ticket from Bikapur seat in Faizabad district. At one point, he conducted a meeting with the sector-in-charge inside the jail.^[15] Abhay Singh has also been accused of making threatening calls to voters from inside the Faizabad jail. While Sarita Singh polled forty thousand votes, she came third, trailing the winner Jitendra Kumar Bablu Bhaiya (BSP) by 13 thousand votes (8%).

A number of other criminal politicians mentioned in the press, such as the new bandit queen Seema Parihar, wife of the slain dacoit Nirbhay Gujjar,^[16] do not appear on the candidate lists, and may have been removed due to irregularities in their nomination papers or otherwise.

Election result[]

Exit polls suggested that the Bahujan Samaj Party may emerge as the largest party with between 110 and 160 seats; however, it far outstripped this prediction collecting an absolute majority of 206 seats out of a total 403 in the assembly. In contrast, Samajwadi Party, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Indian National Congress were reduced very significantly.

These elections were another major example of the pollsters getting it wrong at Indian Elections. In a similar pattern to the 2004 General Elections. The pollsters overpredicted the votes of the BJP.^[17]

The results by party^[18] are as follows:

UP State Assembly Elections, 2007
Party		Candidates Fielded	Won	Last Vidhan Sabha
	BSP	403	206	67(*)
	SP	393	97	152
	BJP	350	51	83
	INC	393	22	25
	RLD	254	10	15
	RPD	14	2	1
	ABLTC	2	1	2
	JD(U)	16	1	2
		54	1
	JKP	66	1
	Jan Morcha	118	1
	RSBP	122	1
	Independent	2581	9	16
	Total	6086	403

Defections[]

The BSP had won 98 seats in the last elections, but 33 MLAs defected to the Samajwadi Party in 2003,^[19] in a move that may have been illegal but was permitted by the then speaker Kesri Nath Tripathi.^[20]

Blanked out[]

In addition, 116 parties fielded candidates but failed to win a seat. The parties with more than 50 candidates fielded without outcome are:

• Indian Justice Party (121)
• Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (97)
• Lok Dal (76)
• National Lokhind Party (74)
• Lok Jan Shakti Party (72)
• Rashtriya Janata Dal (66)
• Shiv Sena (59)

However, it is likely that some of these parties may have taken away votes from other groups; e.g., Udit Raj's Indian Justice Party has a good standing among Dalits who also constitute an important chunk of the BSP vote bank.

Rainbow coalition[]

A characteristic of the BSP win was the amalgamation of Brahmin votes into the Dalit dominated party,^[21] an approach that has been called the rainbow coalition. This is in contrast to the decades-old trend of exploiting deep-rooted caste divisions in the state between Dalits, Upper Castes, Muslims and different OBC groups, which tend to vote in blocks.^[22]

References[]

External links[]

• Election Commission of India
• Information About Uttar Pradesh Elections