UP bypoll election: Omar Abdulllah takes jibe at BJP, thanks them for proving his ' forget 2019' prediction wrong

Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah took a dig at the BJP after the party lost both seats in the Uttar Pradesh bypolls at Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

Dear friends in the BJP, thank you for your hard work & continuing efforts to prove me wrong. I’m truly grateful. Sincerely, your friendly opposition guy  https://t.co/Il8h8xpOj0

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 14, 2018

Last year, Abdullah had commented that there was no chance for any party in 2019 after the BJP steamrolled the UP Assembly Elections by winning 312 out 403 seats in the state

At this rate we might as well forget 2019 & start planning/hoping for 2024.

— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) March 11, 2017

On Wednesday, the Samajwadi Party was leading in both the seats and looked to win both bypolls seats. The BJP all but conceded defeat at the time of writing this piece.

The bypolls were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their seats in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, respectively, on taking office.For Gorakhpur, the key contenders were Upendra Shukla from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Praveen Nishad from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Surhita Chatterjee Karim from the Congress Party.

Meanwhile, candidates in the fray for the Phulpur seat are Kaushalendra Singh Patel from the BJP, Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel from the SP and Manish Mishra from the Congress Party. For these bypolls, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the SP have set aside their rivalry to join forces.

Amit Shah has reached BJP headquarters to monitor poll results.