Buoyed by the stunning defeat of the BJP in bypolls to the three crucial Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh and Bihar ~ including the Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies vacated by UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya respectively ~the Opposition parties on Wednesday said it could be a prelude to the 2019 general elections.

As the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, backed by the arch rival Mayawati-led BSP, trounced the BJP in UP’s prestigious constituencies, a chorus started growing from the Opposition ranks about the need to stitch up a similar “grand alliance” in UP and across the country for effectively taking on the Narendra Modi-led BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP was defeated by the Tejashwi Yadav-led RJD in Bihar’s Araria Lok Sabha constituency.

The principal Opposition Congress said the outcome of a series of recent bypolls in various states ~ including Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, UP and Bihar ~ were a clear indication that the people have become “angry” with the BJP’s “arrogance and misrule” and had now started “showing it the door”.

Congratulating today’s winners in the Hindi heartland, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said the results of these bypolls showed that the people were “very angry” with the BJP and would vote for any non-BJP candidate with the potential to win polls.

“The Congress is keen on rebuilding the party in Uttar Pradesh, but that will not happen overnight,” he added. The Congress’s candidates lost their deposits in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies.

Rahul’s statement thus obliquely underlined the significance of coming together of all anti-BJP parties under the leadership of a “winnable” party in a particular constituency or belt.

The Congress also claimed that the BJP had “lost” its simple majority in the Lok Sabha.

The Congress’s communications in-charge Randeep Surjewala tweeted : “In May 2014, BJP won 282 Lok Sabha seats. In 4 years, BJP Govt is down to 271, losing the simple majority in Lok Sabha minus its allies ~ considering the fact that PM Modi has suspended Kirti Azad & virtually disowned their most truthful, fiercely independent Patna Sahib MP (Shatrughan Sinha).”

However, according to the Lok Sabha website, the BJP has currently 274 MPs ~ 2 more than the 272 Lok Sabha members required for a simple majority on its own.

In another tweet, Surjewala said, “2017-18 report card of BJP is 0/10 ~ BJP lost all 10 LS by-elections in 2017 & 2018. Bypoll results have given clear message that people are angry with BJP for its arrogance & misrule,” listing the 10 seats ~ Amritsar, Srinagar, Malappuram, Gurdaspur, Ajmer, Alwar, Uluberia, Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Araria.

Another Congress spokesman Jyotiraditya Scindia charged that the results of a series of bypolls from different parts of the country reflected the voices of people against “anti-farmers, anti-youths and anti-women” policies of the BJP dispensation and against “prevailing rampant unemployment”.

“It is very clear that the people of our great country are showing the BJP government the door,” Scindia said.

Hailing his party’s triumph, SP MP Dharmendra Yadav praised the BSP for extending its support to the SP candidates in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

To a question, he said he hoped the SP and the BSP would forge an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

SP leader Ramgopal Yadav also hailed the BSP leadership and workers in this regard. When asked whether this tie-up would be replicated in 2019 general elections, he said, “Wait and watch”.