Stephen Hawking, modern cosmology's brightest star, dies aged 76

By David Henry Stephen Hawking the British physicist and black-hole theorist who brought science to a mass audience with the best-selling book A Brief History of Time has died. He was 76. Hawking died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in England in the early hours of Wednesday morning a spokesman for his family said in an emailed statement. We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today his children Lucy Robert and Tim said in the statement. He was a great scientist and an extraordinary man whose work and legacy will live on for many years. His courage and persistence with his brilliance and humor inspired people across the world. He once said It would not be much of a universe if it wasn t home to the people you love. We will miss him forever. http://blurpalicious.com/p/digital-marketing-training/ Hawking suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis also known as Lou Gehrig s disease and was confined to an electric wheelchair for much of his adult life. Diagnosed at age 21 he was one of the world s longest survivors of ALS. A Cambridge University professor Hawking redefined cosmology by proposing that black holes emit radiation and later evaporate. He also showed that the universe had a beginning by describing how Albert Einstein s theory of general relativity eventually breaks down when time and space are traced back to the Big Bang about 13.7 billion years ago. Stephen s remarkable combination of boldness vision insight and courage have enabled him to produce ideas that have transformed our understanding of space and time black holes and the origin of the universe James Hartle professor of physics at the University of California Santa Barbara said in 2002. File photo: Pope Francis (L) meets with Stephen Hawking at the Vatican on November 28 2016. Best-Seller A Brief History of Time first published in 1988 earned its author worldwide acclaim selling at least 10 million copies in 40 languages and staying on the best-seller list of the U.K. s Sunday Times newspaper for a record 237 weeks. Often referred to as one of the most unread books of all time for the hard-to-grasp concepts it included only one equation: E = mc2 or the equivalence of mass and energy deduced by Einstein from his theory of special relativity. The book outlined the basics of cosmology for the general reader. Hawking s fame increased as his health worsened. After his degenerative muscle disorder was diagnosed he defied medical opinion by living five decades longer than expected. He communicated his ideas through an American-accented speech synthesizer after a life-saving tracheotomy in 1985 took away his ability to speak. To the layman the robot-like voice only seemed to give his words added authority. To my colleagues I m just another physicist but to the wider public I became possibly the best-known scientist in the world Hawking wrote in his 2013 memoir My Brief History. This is partly because scientists apart from Einstein are not widely known rock stars and partly because I fit the stereotype of a disabled genius. Stephen Hawking (R) and his wife Elaine pose in front of the San Lorenzo beach in the northern Spanish city of Gijon April 10 2005. Black Holes Hawking applied quantum theory -- governing the subatomic world -- to black holes which he claimed discharge radiation that causes them to disappear. This process helps explain the notion that black holes have existed at a micro level since the Big Bang and the smaller they are the faster they evaporate. Black holes are formed when a massive star collapses under the weight of its own gravity. Detected by the movement of surrounding matter they devour everything in their path and may play a role in the birth of galaxies. Physicists say these invisible cosmic vacuums might allow travel through time and space via wormholes a favorite of science-fiction writers. With mathematician Roger Penrose Hawking used Einstein s theory of relativity to trace the origins of time and space to a single point of zero size and infinite density. Their work gave mathematical expression to the Big Bang theory proposed by Belgian priest Georges Lemaitre in 1927 and supported two years later by Edwin Hubble s discovery that the universe is expanding. File photo: Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to British theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking. With Hartle Hawking later tried to marry relativity with quantum theory by proposing the no-boundary principle which held that space-time is finite and the laws of physics determined how the universe began in a self-contained system without the need for a creator or prior cause. Profound Impact The Nobel Prize in Physics proved elusive for Hawking whose theories required observational data to win the praise of the awarding committee in Stockholm. The Nobel Foundation excludes posthumous nominees. By any reasonable standard Stephen Hawking is a great scientist. Even if time shows some of his more radical proposals to be incorrect Hawking will have had a profound impact on the history of science Henry F. Schaefer III a chemistry professor at the University of Georgia said in a 2001 lecture. Stephen William Hawking was born in Oxford England on Jan. 8 1942 exactly 300 years after the death of Italian physicist Galileo Galilei. Hawking s father Frank was a doctor of tropical medicine. His mother Isobel was a tax inspector and a secretary. He had two younger sisters and a brother. At age 8 Hawking moved with his family to St. Albans where he went to school. He then graduated with first-class honors in natural science at Oxford s University College. While he was a doctoral candidate at Cambridge Hawking was diagnosed with ALS also known as motor neuron disease. He was told he had only a few years to live. The End Of An Era: Interesting Facts About Stephen Hawking of 6NextPrevPlay SlideshowA Bright Star Gone14 Mar 2018Nobel-prize winner British physicist Stephen Hawking passed away on Wednesday morning at the age of 76. The author of A Brief History of Time died peacefully at his home in Cambridge in England a spokesman for his family confirmed in a statement. Here s a quick glimpse at his life... (Image: Stephen Hawking s Facebook Page)Birth14 Mar 2018The theoretical physicist was born exactly 300 years after the death of Galileo in Oxford England. Despite having a house in north London his parents chose to raise children in Oxford because it was considered a safer place to have babies during World War II. (Image: www.hawking.org.uk)Education14 Mar 2018After studying in St Albans School in a town which was about 20 miles north of London Hawkings went on to his father s old college University College Oxford (1952). He wanted to pursue Mathematics but the subject wasn t available in the university. Hence he followed his took up physics even though his father wanted his to pursue medicine. After being dedicated for three years he was awarded the first class honours degree in natural science. (Image: Stephen Hawking s Facebook Page)Awards and Honorary Degrees14 Mar 2018Professor Stephen Hawking has thirteen honorary degrees. He was awarded CBE (1982) Companion of Honour (1989) and the Presidential Medal of Freedom (2009). He is the recipient of many awards medals and prizes like like Fundamental Physics prize (2013) Copley Medal (2006) and the Wolf Foundation prize (1988). He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and a member of the US National Academy of Sciences and the Pontifical Academy of Sciences. (Image: Stephen Hawking s Facebook Page)Personal Life14 Mar 2018At the age of 21 he was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) a form motor neurone disease in 1963 shortly after his birthday. Despite being wheelchair-bound and dependent on a computerised voice system for communication Hawking continued his research into theoretical physics. He also took up public lectures and extensive programme of travel followng the illness. He also has a family of three children and three grandchildren. (Image: Stephen Hawking s Facebook Page)Next Universe s Origin As the illness progressed slower than expected and he found inspiration in his girlfriend Jane Wilde Hawking began to work at his studies for the first time. He completed his doctorate on the origins of the universe became a research fellow at Caius College and married Wilde in 1965. In 1970 Hawking realized the mathematical approaches he developed with Penrose could be applied to black holes a term coined by physicist John Wheeler. Hawking worked for the next four years on black holes discovering they weren t totally black but leaked radiation now known as Hawking radiation. For 30 years Hawking was Cambridge s Lucasian professor of mathematics a chair once held by Isaac Newton. U.S. President Barack Obama awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Hawking in 2009 the year of his retirement. His other popular books included The Universe in a Nutshell (2001) On the Shoulders of Giants (2002) A Briefer History of Time (2005) and The Grand Design (2010). In 2015 Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar for his portrayal of Hawking in The Theory of Everything a film about the scientist s life. File photo: Stephen Hawking (2L) his former wife Jane (2R) and British actors Felicity Jones (L) and Eddie Redmayne (R) attend the UK premiere of the film The Theory of Everything in London. Hawking separated from his wife in 1991 and married his nurse Elaine Mason four years later. They divorced in 2007. http://kkdigital.page.tl/ By 2017 Hawking was spending more time pondering humanity s future and concluding that we should plan to colonize other planets. We are running out of space and the only place we can go to are other worlds he told a gathering of scientists. It is time to explore other solar systems. Spreading out may be the only thing that saves us from ourselves. I am convinced that humans need to leave Earth.

UP, Bihar bypoll results 2018 LIVE: SP leading in Adityanath's Gorakhpur and Phulpur

.story-content span .story-content p .story-content div color:#000!important;font-family: open sans Arial!important;font-size:15px!important ALSO READ Lok Sabha bypolls: Yogi s Gorakhpur successor Upendra Shukla the outsider Uttar Pradesh bypoll results: Template of opposition (dis)unity MP by-poll results: Congress retains Mungaoli Kolaras with huge margins Yogi to face mini referendum in parliamentary bypoll ahead of 2019 Phulpur and Gorakhpur by-election results 2018: SP established a slender lead over BJP in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha bypolls as counting picked up pace on Wednesday a poll official said. Poor voting percentage in the by polls and the coming together of arch rivals Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party has made the contest interesting in the elections. Phulpur bypoll results 2018: Samajwadi Party s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel leading by 12 231 votes with 99 557 votes BJP s Kaushlendra Singh Patel second with 87 326 votes after eight round of counting. Gorakhpur bypoll results 2018: In a turn of events SP s Praveen Kumar Nishad is leading by 1523 with 44 979 votes BJP s Upendra Dutt Shukla second with 43 456 votes. Phulpur bypoll results 2018: Samajwadi Party s Nagendra Pratap http://dgtlmrktinbng.mihanblog.com/ Singh Patel leading by 9924 votes with 87 272 votes BJP s Kaushlendra Singh Patel second with 77 348 votes after eight round of counting. Gorakhpur District Magistrate Rajeev Rautela on bypoll results 2018: Counting of votes is underway. When ARO sends counting figures of any round from the 5 assembly constituencies it is scrutinised by the RO & 2 observers scrutinise the counting figures manually & digitally & then sign it. This process takes time. He added: Only then is the counting sheet of the entire Parliamentary constituency finalised & we announce it. We have announced the figures of the first round. Those of the 2nd and 3rd round are ready. We will announce it soon. Uttar Pradesh bypoll results 2018: I firmly believe that we will win both Gorakhpur & Phulpur SP is leading in initial rounds but a number of rounds are still left. I know the voters of that area we will have a win with a comfortable margin of a lakh says Uttar Pradesh Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya. I firmly believe that we will win both #Gorakhpur & #Phulpur SP is leading in initial rounds but a number of rounds are still left. I know the voters of that area we will have a win with a comfortable margin of a lakh: UP Dy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya pic.twitter.com/JUqmpzIAnz ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 14 2018 span.p-content div id = div-gpt line-height:0;font-size:0 The Samajwadi Party was leading in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-polls late in the morning. The counting of votes for the Lok Sabha by-election 2018 for the two Assembly constituencies of Uttar Pradesh Gorakhpur and Phulpur and Bihar s Jahanabad and Bhabua besides the Araria Lok Sabha seat in Bihar commenced on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements. The results are expected to be declared by Thursday afternoon according to an Election Commission official. Meanwhile the initial counting of votes today showed that the BJP-led NDA was leading in the Araria Lok Sabha and Jahanabad and Bhabua Assembly by-elections in Bihar. The candidates of the Grand Alliance of RJD Congress and HAM were trailing in all three seats. Uttar Pradesh by-elections 2018 The voter turnout was 47.45 per cent in Gorakhpur and 37.39 per cent in Phulpur in Sunday s polling. Ten candidates were in the fray from Gorakhpur while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur. According to the Election Commission there are 1.96 million (19.61 lakh) voters in Phulpur parliamentary constituency while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has a 1.95 million (19.49 lakh) electorate. Uttar Pradesh by-polls 2018 were necessitated after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council. Bihar by-elections 2018 Fifty-seven per cent polling was registered in Araria Bihar s Chief Electoral Officer Ajay V Nayak said. In the Bhabua and Jehanabad Assembly constituencies in Bihar where by-polls were also held the voter turnout was 54.03 per cent and 50.06 per cent respectively he said. Bihar by-polls 2018 for the Araria seat was necessitated by the death of RJD MP Mohd Taslimuddin.

LUCKNOW: Votes in two UP s Phulpur and Gorakhpur parliamentary seats are being counted amid tight security. According to latest data Samajwadi Party has reversed BJP s lead by considerable margins. SP candidate Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel is leading by about 10 000 votes in Phulpur after seven rounds of counting officials said. Results for both the seats were likely to be announced by 12 noon. Both the seats saw poor voting with Gorakhpur registering 43% and Phulpur a measly 37.39%. The Gorakhpur seat was vacated by Yogi Adityanath after he became Chief Minister while the Phulpur seat fell vacant after the election of his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya as an MLC in the state assembly. With agency inputs
NEW DELHI: Counting of votes began today for the bypolls in the Lok Sabha seats of Phulpur and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Here s all you need to know about what necessitated the bypolls and why they are important: 1) The bypolls had to be held after UP CM Adityanath and deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Lok Sabha seats of Gorakhpur and Phulpur respectively upon being elected to the state Legislative Council last year after Assembly elections. 2) Voting for the two seats took place on Sunday. While 47 per cent of the voters exercised their franchise in Gorakhpur the turnout in Phulpur was lower at 38 per cent. 3) The saffron party fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the Samajwadi Party s (SP) Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for the Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. 4) The triangular contest promises to be riveting as the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) extended support to the SP so as to take on the BJP. 5) The fate of the SP-BSP experiment could pave the way for the two major players in Uttar Pradesh to tie up in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to counter the BJP. In the last state elections as well as in the last Lok Sabha elections both the SP and the BSP got a drubbing from the BJP. 6) For the BJP Gorakhpur is significant as it is the bastion of the chief minister who has represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath. 7) Phulpur once the bastion of the Congress and represented by India s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Maurya won the seat. 8) The BJP is rattled though by the SP-BSP alliance as it s afraid it will eat into Dalit votes especially in Phulpur. As it is Phulpur has never really been a BJP bastion. 9) SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said BSP support will help. Yes we are getting (BSP) support and it will help us. The strong image will especially attract Muslims and Dalits. I cannot say much but this much I am sure that we will win both the seats he said. 10) Adityanath lashed out at the SP and the BSP for what he said is an opportunistic alliance. (It s) just like snake and mongoose unite when a storm comes...People will vote for BJP keeping in mind PM Modi s policies of development and good governance he said.
Lucknow: Counting of votes for the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-elections began on Wednesday amid tight security arrangements. The results are expected to be declared by afternoon an Election Commission (EC) official said. Ten nominees were in the fray from Gorakhpur while 22 candidates contested from Phulpur. According to the EC there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur Parliamentary constituency while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has 19.49 lakh voters. Representational image. AP The by-polls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats respectively following their election to the state legislative council. Termed by Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election the by-polls saw a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP the SP and the Congress. The saffron party had fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur. The SP had fielded Pravin Nishad from Gorakhpur and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel from Phulpur. The Congress had nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur. Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath. Phulpur once represented by the country s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Maurya won the seat. Click here for LIVE updates on the UP By-polls
New Delhi: CommentsUttar Pradesh bypolls were held on March 11 Sunday in Phulpur constituency as the seat was vacated by Keshav Prasad Maurya after taking over as the Deputy Chief Minister in September last year. A total of 37.39 per cent polling was recorded in Phulpur where 22 candidates are in poll contest from the constituency. The by-elections are being seen as a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha election and are seeing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP the SP and the Congress. BJP s Kaushalendra Singh Patel Samajwadi Party s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel and Congress Manish Mishra are the key candidates for the Phulpur seat in UP bypolls. The Phulpur by-election result will be announced on March 14.Phulpur has been represented by India s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and later became the stronghold of Mayawati s Bahujan Samaj Party. The seat is important for the BJP as the party won the seat for the first time with Keshav Prasad Maurya contesting the 2014 Lok Sabha election. After 2017 UP Assembly Elections the seat was vacated by Mr Maurya as he took over as the deputy chief minister.The elections have assumed greater significance in light of changed political dynamics in the state. To topple the BJP arch rivals Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party have turned friends from foes for the first time in 25 years. While the BSP has not fielded any candidate from the seat former chief minister and party chief Mayawati announced that her party would vote for a candidate who will be in a position to defeat the BJP . Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had slammed the SP-BSP understanding as the coming together of a mongoose and a snake when a storm brews . On the Phulpur by-election day Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said that he was confident of victory margins as big as in 2014 and was not worried at all .Attacking the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) the chief minister said These parties are indulging in negative politics politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences.
Forty three per cent voters cast their mandate in the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency today while Phulpur recorded an even lesser 37.39 per cent turnout as the crucial bypolls to the two Lok Sabha seats were held peacefully the state election office said. Polling began at 7 AM and passed off peacefully at 5 PM the state election office said. Gorakhpur recorded a turnout of 43 per cent and Phulpur 37.39 per cent it added. There were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at a few booths but the machines were promptly replaced without affecting the polling an election official said here. The reason behind the lower than expected turnout in the high-stakes polls in the country s electorally most significant state was said to be a lack of enthusiasm among voters who are now looking forward to the general elections which are barely a year away. Tight security arrangements were in place to ensure free and fair polling. Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and homeguard jawans 65 companies of central paramilitary forces were deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls. The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats after getting elected to the state legislative council. After casting his vote in Gorakhpur Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support. The people know that development is the only panacea he told reporters there. Attacking the BSP and the SP he said These parties are indulging in negative politics politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences because of this. To ensure that in future such a situation does not arise efforts have to be made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics and the focus should be on development and administration. Asked about the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding Adityanath said it would have no effect on the outcome of the polls. If the SP BSP and Congress had fought together then results would have been much better for us he said. Termed by Adityanath as a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the bye-polls are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress. The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP s Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel and Pravin Nishad respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur. Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister who represented the seat Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath the seat was represented in parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice. Phulpur once represented by the country s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as Maurya won there. Maurya exuded confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing bypolls. I am confident that on March 14 (when results are declared) the record made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha elections) will be repeated and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious he told reporters after casting his vote for the Phulpur seat along with family members. Asked about the BJP s plans to counter the electoral understanding between SP and BSP Maurya said We have already expanded enough and in future if any political party wants to join us it will be definitely deliberated upon. But today from UP s point of view the poll alliance of the BJP Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) exists. Apart from this we do not have any other alliance. And banking on this alliance we will win 80 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state he said. Taking a jibe at the SP-BSP tie-up the minister said Their (SP-BSP) votes will be transferred only when they have enough votes . The votes (of the people) are with us. But they have only leaders who make statements...The voters of Mayawatiji have deserted the BSP and have reposed their faith in Modiji Yogi and BJP. We are winning both the Lok Sabha seats and with wider margin Maurya claimed. Union minister Shiv Pratap Shukla cast his vote in Gorakhpur while UP Health minister Sidharth Nath Singh exercised his franchise in Phulpur. Interestingly it was on this day last year that BJP and its allies stormed to power in the UP Assembly elections. In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency there were 970 polling centres and 2 141 polling booths while in Phulpur there were 793 polling centres and 2 059 polling booths. According to the Election Commission there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has a 19.49 lakh electorate. As many as 4 728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used in the bypolls and provisions were made for web-casting from 95 critical booths. Counting of ballots will be taken up on March 14.
Lucknow: Forty-three percent voters cast their mandate in the Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency on Sunday while Phulpur recorded an even lesser 37.39 percent turnout as the crucial bypolls to the two Lok Sabha seats were held peacefully the state election officials said. Polling began at 7 am and passed off peacefully at 5 pm the state election officials said. Voters display their voter s ID card at a polling booth for Phulpur bypoll elections in Allahabad on Sunday. PTI Gorakhpur recorded a turnout of 43 percent and Phulpur 37.39 percent it added. There were complaints of EVM malfunctioning at a few booths but the machines were promptly replaced without affecting the polling an election official said. The reason behind the lower than expected turnout in the high-stakes polls in the country s electorally most significant state was said to be a lack of enthusiasm among voters who are now looking forward to the general elections which are barely a year away. Tight security arrangements were in place to ensure free and fair polling. Apart from the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) and homeguard jawans 65 companies of central paramilitary forces were deployed to ensure peaceful bypolls. The bypolls were necessitated after Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated their Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats after getting elected to the state legislative council. After casting his vote in Gorakhpur Adityanath said the BJP was getting widespread support. The people know that development is the only panacea he told reporters. Attacking the BSP and the Samajwadi Party he said These parties are indulging in negative politics politics of bargaining and politics of opportunism. The state has suffered the negative consequences because of this. To ensure that in future such a situation does not arise efforts have to be made to shun politics of casteism and dynastic politics and the focus should be on development and administration. Asked about the SP and BSP entering an electoral understanding Adityanath said it would have no effect on the outcome of the polls. If the Samajwadi Party BSP and Congress had fought together then results would have been much better for us he said. Termed by Adityanath as a rehearsal for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections the bye-polls are witnessing a triangular contest involving the ruling BJP the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress. The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the Samajwadi Party s Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. The Congress has nominated Sureetha Kareem for Gorakhpur and Manish Mishra for Phulpur Lok Sabha seat. Ten candidates are in the fray from Gorakhpur while 22 candidates are contesting from Phulpur. Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the bastion of the chief minister who represented the seat Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath the seat was represented in parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath thrice. Phulpur once represented by the country s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections as Maurya won there. Maurya exuded confidence that the BJP would sweep the ongoing bypolls. I am confident that on 14 March (when results are declared) the record made in Phulpur in 2014 (Lok Sabha elections) will be repeated and our candidate Kaushalendra Patel will emerge victorious he told reporters after casting his vote for the Phulpur seat along with family members. Asked about the BJP s plans to counter the electoral understanding between Samajwadi Party and BSP Maurya said We have already expanded enough and in future if any political party wants to join us it will be definitely deliberated upon. But today from UP s point of view the poll alliance of the BJP Apna Dal (Sonelal) and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) exists. Apart from this we do not have any other alliance. And banking on this alliance we will win 80 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state he said. Taking a jibe at the SP-BSP tie-up the minister said Their (Samajwadi Party-BSP) votes will be http://kkdigitald4.simplesite.com transferred only when they have enough votes . The votes (of the people) are with us. But they have only leaders who make statements...The voters of Mayawatiji have deserted the BSP and have reposed their faith in Modiji Yogi and BJP. We are winning both the Lok Sabha seats and with wider margin Maurya claimed. Union minister Shiv Pratap Shukla cast his vote in Gorakhpur while Uttar Pradesh Health minister Sidharth Nath Singh exercised his franchise in Phulpur. Interestingly it was on this day last year that BJP and its allies stormed to power in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. In Gorakhpur parliamentary constituency there were 970 polling centres and 2 141 polling booths while in Phulpur there were 793 polling centres and 2 059 polling booths. According to the Election Commission there are 19.61 lakh voters in the Phulpur parliamentary constituency while the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat has a 19.49 lakh electorate. As many as 4 728 Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) machines were used in the bypolls and provisions were made for web-casting from 95 critical booths. Counting of ballots will be taken up on 14 March.