Mumbai, Mar 16: The Bharatiya Janata Party's rout in Gorakhpur and Phulpur by-elections – the seats last represented by Uttar Pradesh's incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya – has drawn stinging jibes from the Opposition camp. Joining the fray today was Shiv Sena, the estranged ally of BJP in Maharashtra.

In the party mouthpiece Saamna, Sena said the margin of BJP defeats in Gorakhpur and Phulpur proves the disillusionment of people towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi, "who has failed to keep the promises made in 2014".

"What else could be the reason for Yogi Adityanath to save Gorakhpur, his citadel, for the BJP? Despite representing the seat since 1998, he failed to ensure that the BJP candidate could emerge victorious," Sena noted.

Dismissing BJP's claim that the "low voter-turnout" led to Samajwadi Party's victory, Sena said the margin of victory proves "people went out of their way to send a message to the BJP".

BJP would be restricted to 100-110 seats in 2019

Predicting a massive rout for PM Modi in the general elections scheduled next year, Sena said the BJP, which won 282 seats in 2014, would be restricted to 100-110 constituencies in 2019.

"In 2014, the BJP won 282 seats. Within four years, their tally has been reduced to 272. They have lost almost all the by-elections. Gauging by this, it is clear that people would root them out in 2019 unless they take feedback from the ground," it added.

BJP lost 14 out of the 16 Lok Sabha bypolls held since 2014

Except for Vadodara in Gujarat and Shahdol in Madhya Pradesh, BJP has lost 14 of the 16 Lok Sabha seats contested after the 2014 sweep. Among the major constituencies which were wrested away from the saffron camp include Rajasthan's Ajmer and Alwar; MP's Ratlam, Punjab's Gurdaspur and UP's Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

After the bypolls, Congress, the single-largest Opposition party in Lok Sabha, increased its strength from 44 to 48 seats.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Mar 16, 2018 06:04 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).