The seat had fallen vacant after the death of Amar Singh's sister-in-law Archana Saroj who had won in 2007 by a small margin on a BSP ticket.

The result comes as a blow to Chief Minister Mayawati who had personally campaigned for the candidate and as many as five of her ministers camped there for almost a month. The defeat also indicates that the charm is wearing off BSP's new Sarvjan Samaj plank — the Dalit-Brahmin-Muslim combination on which it is heavily banking for the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls. The three communities constitute a majority of voters in the constituency, and the BSP had tried its best to mobilise them.

While PWD Minister Naseemuddin Sidiqqui worked overtime to lure the Muslims, Brahmin ministers Rakesh Dhar Tripathi, Nakul Dubey, Subhash Pandey and Rangnath Mishra wooed the Brahmins. Plus, party’s Brahmin mascot Satish Chandra Mishra also conducted a meeting of the Brahmin Bhaichara committee in Bhadohi. As for the Dalits, it was almost a foregone conclusion that they will vote for none other than the BSP, which is headed by the tallest Dalit leader. According to sources, while the BSP was able to win over a section of Muslims, it took the Dalits and Brahmins for granted, and had to pay a heavy price for it.

The Dalits were divided between the SP and BSP candidates. As for the Brahmins, a large chunk of them voted for BJP’s Deendayal, accounting for over 14,000 votes.

The general complaint doing the rounds was that Archana Saroj, who remained ill for a long time, had neglected the constituency after winning the election in 2007, which in-turn affected the BSP. On the other hand, the work done by Bhadohi nagarpalika chairman Arif Siddiqui in addressing the local issues had helped the SP candidate. Intriguingly, Mulayam Singh’s “friendship” with Kalyan Singh was not an issue for the Muslims of Bhadohi. As soon as the election result was declared, the BSP leaders went into the inaccessible mode. In the evening, state BSP president Swami Prasad Maurya issued a statement attributing the defeat to a dispute within the family of Archana Saroj. “Archana’s father Ram Nihor Rakesh, an old Congressman, wanted the party ticket for his son. Rakesh damaged the party in the election,” said Maurya. The party will not allow such things to happen in the Lok Sabha polls, he said.