Lucknow: It is a royal victory for the BJP but royals in Uttar Pradesh have lost big, too.
For the first time, almost all candidates in the opposition who belong to royal families have lost elections.
In Pratapgarh, two royal candidates have lost elections. Rajkumari Ratna Singh, of Kalakankar estate and daughter of former Minister Dinesh Singh, was the Congress candidate. She is a two-term MP having won in 1999 and 2009.
However, this time she settled at the third position with merely 77,069 votes.
Her rival in Pratapgarh was another royal candidate Akshay Pratap Singh. Akshay is a cousin of Raja Bhaiyya and was contesting as his Jansatta Party candidate. He ranked fourth and could garner only 46,963 votes.
Raja Bhaiyya also belongs to the royal family of Bainti estate.
Dr. Sanjay Sinh, the scion of the erstwhile Amethi state, was the Congress candidate in Sultanpur. He ended up with 41,681 votes and stood at a distant third position.
The only royal member who has managed a victory is Kirti Vardhan Singh of Mankapur estate. He won the Gonda seat on a BJP ticket.
[source_without_link]IANS[/source_without_link]