UP Election Results 2022: Shivpal Singh Yadav defeats BJP's Vivek Shakya by over 90,000 votes in Jaswantnagar

Shivpal Singh Yadav is said to be SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's righthand man. (Photo: PTI)

In Jaswantnagar, Samajwadi Party's candidate Shivpal Singh Yadav defeated BJP's Vivek Shakya by 90979 votes.

Contestants were SP's Shivpal Singh Yadav, BJP's Vivek Shakya, BSP's Brajendra Pratap Singh, AAP's Gyanesh Kumar, Jan Adhikar Party's Madhu and independents Ashutosh Kumar and Vishwanath Pratap.

In 2017, Shivpal Yadav had won from here as a candidate for SP and by a wide margin, of over 52,000 votes, defeating the second in the race and BJP’s Manish Singh Patre. In this SP stronghold, the party has won the last five elections. Despite the impressive victory, Shivpal left SP the very next year, angry with Akhilesh for trying to take control of the party and formed Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP).

Last year, the chill between the uncle and nephew had seemed to thaw. SP and PSP had joined forces in a panchayat poll in Etawah, and had won 18 out of 24 wards. By December 2021, the two parties had reached a seat-sharing agreement for the Assembly polls.

That is how Shivpal came to be a candidate for the SP-PSP alliance.

Shivpal is known to be a confidante of his elder brother Mulayam Singh Yadav, and is highly valued for his understanding of caste politics and his grassroots connect.

BJP’s candidate Vivek Shakya was hoping to wrest a win on the back of development work done by his party. Shakya is widely considered a lightweight, though he has been a party worker for over a decade. The saffron party is hoping that the law and order situation under SP’s rule will prove an advantage for its candidates across the state. 

Another factor that was said to be at play was the anger against farm laws. This constituency falls under Mainpuri district in west UP, which has a sizeable population of farmers. This was expected to work in favour of SP.

Voting was held here in the third phase, held on February 20.