A Maharashtra parallel in UP bypolls: BJP had all hands on deck, Opposition sat on LS laurels

Consequently, of the 7 seats won by the BJP and allies (six of them by the BJP), 2 were wrested from the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Like successful Maharashtra, the Opposition – that is, the SP – had fewer caller ideas, and stuck to its plank of “PDA (Pichchde, Dalit, Alpasankhayak)” portion hoping to clasp the non-Yadav OBC enactment that came its mode successful the wide elections. The SP, which ended with a stunning 33 seats successful the Lok Sabha polls successful UP, up of the BJP, concentrated astir its full bypoll vigor connected retaining the Karhal seat, which had been vacated by its chief, Akhilesh Yadav.

In the process, the enactment that made the astir gains was the fledgling Aazad Samaj Party (Kanshiram) of Bhim Army main Chandrashekhar Azad. In Meerapur and Kundarki, its Muslim candidates finished third, up of the BSP and AIMIM. In Khair and Ghaziabad too, the ASP candidates got a credible 8,269 and 6,000-plus votes respectively.

The results bespeak that the ASP got some Dalit and Muslim votes, not a comforting thought for the UP Opposition, including the SP, Congress and BSP. A Congress person said: “Chandrashekhar is emerging arsenic a fashionable leader, particularly among Dalit youths, and has been capable to get immoderate number votes arsenic good with his Muslim candidates. The aforesaid strategy that was adopted by the BSP successful the past seems to beryllium moving for Chandrashekhar. In the 2027 Assembly polls successful UP, helium volition surely beryllium a important player.”

Meanwhile, the BJP played the balancing crippled better, selecting candidates keeping the section caste equations successful mind. For illustration successful Katehri, which has a ascendant colonisation of Nishads arsenic good arsenic Brahmins, the BJP went with a Nishad, calculating that this would get the enactment the community’s vote, isolated from its accepted precocious caste votes.

A BJP person said: “Lots of things worked successful our favour, and the overconfidence of the Opposition was besides 1 of them. The enactment connected the crushed started overmuch earlier the polls were announced. The Chief Minister did not conscionable circuit the 9 seats but besides held astatine slightest 2 large nationalist payment events successful each, not to notation the party’s deployment of ministers, MLAs and MPs connected the crushed for campaigning arsenic per the section caste equations.”

Ironically, the Congress whitethorn not beryllium excessively displeased with the results. The SP’s refusal to stock much than a mates of seats with it had led the Congress to determine to enactment retired of the bypolls. Used to being seen arsenic the dormant value successful their coalition, Congress leaders person been saying aft the results that it is clip the SP had a world cheque implicit its PDA look and realised that it cannot instrumentality the Dalit ballot for granted.

Congress leaders consciousness the enactment is besides successful a amended presumption present to bargain with the SP, and that 1 of its main arguments would beryllium that the crushed the Dalits voted for INDIA successful the Lok Sabha polls was the Congress.

Both BJP and Congress leaders constituent to Kundarki, the minority-dominated spot won by the BJP aft 1993, with its Hindu person defeating 12 Muslim rivals, including the SP’s sitting MLA. Similarly, the BJP won OBC-dominated Katehri for the archetypal clip successful 3 decades aft the SP’s Kurmi campaigner Shobhawati Verma failed to consolidate adjacent each the OBC Verma votes down her. The BSP Kurmi candidate, erstwhile Congress territory president Amit Verma, got 40,000-plus votes, portion the BJP’s Dharmaraj Nishad, besides an OBC, won.

The lone Scheduled Castes-reserved spot retired of the nine, Khair, besides went to the BJP. Its campaigner Surendra Diler defeated Charu Kain of the SP by implicit 38,000 votes.

BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said the results had lifted the clouds implicit the enactment since the Lok Sabha results successful June. “We had not been capable to enactment successful clip past to antagonistic the rumours dispersed by the Opposition regarding reservations and the Constitution, and saw this predetermination arsenic an opportunity. The BJP organisation worked hard to scope the masses, portion determination was amended coordination betwixt the authorities and the organisation. The Chief Minister and his full Cabinet enactment successful each their efforts,” Tripathi said.