People have defeated us in UP, admits Ram Gopal

Dejected with the heart wrenching loss in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, senior Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav on Wednesday said the results have been opposite to their expectations as the people of the state have defeated them.

"The people have given the BJP their mandate. The people of Uttar Pradesh have defeated us and have given the mandate to the BJP. Yes the results have been opposite to our expectations," Yadav told ANI.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) witnessed an unprecedented victory with 321 seats in the assembly elections contested for 403 seats, while the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance bagged 54, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) got 19 and others bagged 18 seats respectively.

Earlier, accepting the defeat in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh, former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav had insisted that the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance will continue in future.

"The decision of the public is very well accepted by the Samajwadi Party. We wish all the best to the upcoming government in the state," he said adding, "I am very happy that we formed an alliance with the Congress. Two young leaders came together and this alliance will continue in future as well."

He further said, "Sometimes in politics, you don't get votes by making people understand something, but by enticing them."

Yesterday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi had said that one of the main reasons for the BJP's win in Uttar Pradesh was polarisation.

"The BJP won the elections in Uttar Pradesh. I would like to congratulate them. There are many reasons why they won it, one being polarisation," Gandhi told the media outside Parliament.

Refuting the allegations, BJP's Uttar Pradesh chief Keshav Prasad Maurya said that these comments coming from the Congress were natural as the grand old party was completely dejected by the loss.

"I want to tell you that there is no identity of Congress in Uttar Pradesh. There was nothing on the part of the Congress that they could have won the elections. On the other hand, people were happy with Narendra Modi and his leadership and that's why they have given us the mandate," Maurya told ANI.

"This win is the win of Narendra Modi's work for the poor. This win in Uttar Pradesh is peoples' win," he added.