Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party on Sunday won the Assembly by-elections in Pharendra in Maharajganj district with a margin of 9231 votes. The Samajwadi candidate Vinod Mani polled 64,878 votes while the Congress, which ranked second, polled 55,647 votes. The BJP, which had earlier held the seat, remained at the third position with 41,247 votes.

The Pharenda seat had been declared vacant after the BJP MLA Bajrang Bahadur was disqualified for taking government contracts for a firm headed by him. Samajwadi Party spokesman Rajendra Chaudhary said that the party’s success was a clear indication that the people were approving of the development programmes initiated by the Akhilesh government.

The most remarkable aspect of the result in Pharendra was the unexpected emergence of the Congress at the second position. “We are consolidating our position. The Congress is on a comeback trail,” said a leader.