- By Abhishek Sheoran
- Tue, 04 Jun 2024 10:32 PM (IST)
- Source:JND
Uttar Pradesh, a crucial state known for sending the highest number of lawmakers to the Lok Sabha, came as a big surprise for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as it suffered a colossal setback in the Hindi heartland at the hands of the INDIA bloc in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024. As per the trends so far, the Samajwadi Party-led brigade won 23 seats and is leading in 14 others. Besides Congress’ bonhomie with the SP also materialised and it too managed to reclaim its lost land in the key state. The grand old party, whose footprints had almost eroded in north India, managed to amass four seats, including family bastions Rae Bareli and Amethi, and a decisive lead in two others.
Cutting BJP down to size, SP’s political manoeuvring prevented the saffron party from surpassing the majority mark on its own, much to the surprise of many. However, the NDA alliance seems to be garnering enough numbers to form the government. Notably, BJP accumulated 62 seats in 2019 from UP notwithstanding the mighty SP-BSP alliance.
Akhilesh Yadav’s Pedant Electoral Math:
SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav rolled out a comprehensive and ardent political campaign while flagging his PDA placard against the BJP. Many criticised Akhilesh after he flipped candidates on certain seats, not even once but twice or thrice, but little did they know that he was working on a formidable caste-laden formula against the BJP. OBCs, which form around 40 to 45 per cent of the total electorate in UP, were on Akhilesh’s priority list this time. Besides, pan UP consolidation of the Muslim community worked as a cherry on the cake to fulfil SP’s UP dream.
Congress should equally be credited as it agreed to forge an alliance with SP despite a small chunk of seats. An unprecedented understanding was also seen among the ground-level workers of both the party as the message from the top brass was clear. The Rahul-Akhilesh bonhomie raised the right issues targeting youths and the downtrodden. Agniveer, paper leaks, unemployment, and caste census were among the key issues which occupied a front seat in the INDIA bloc’s poll campaign. A stir in the votes of the Vanchit community was also seen owing to Mayawati’s reluctance. A big chunk of Vanchits also backed the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh.
What went against BJP:
The saffron party, having built the grand Ram Mandir, thought to ride on the issue on yet another occasion in the state, which the voter thought not to take into cognisance while voting. The INDIA alliance managed to persuade the UP voters that the BJP was trying to shroud its failures by the issue of religion. As a result, the BJP even lost the Faizabad (Ayodhya) Lok Sabha seat, where a grand Ram temple was inaugurated by PM Modi.
Along with this, the narrative that the Centre would remove Yogi Adityanath after the formation of the government didn’t go down well with the voters. The issue, along with the discontent of the Rajput community over non-representation, hung around the BJP’s neck like an albatross. However, several clarifications were laid out by the BJP in this regard but the voters were perhaps not convinced.
Employment crisis and habitual paper leak incidents affecting the youths also came as an electoral blow to the BJP. Moreover, the reluctance of the RSS in BJP’s affairs also came as a big setback.
However, it's yet to be known how things will unfold at the national level but the Akhilesh-Rahul duo has indeed replied to BJP’s 'do ladko ki jodi' jibe by stopping BJP from getting majority.
