LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath may have told his party workers not to “get behind the curve” following the BJP’s dismal performance in the state in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, but stark differences between the party and the government have created anxiety among its members.
With by-elections to 10 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh looming, differences with the party’s central leadership are coming to the surface.
Billed as a mini-election ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls scheduled for 2027, the saffron party faces a monumental task of galvanising its demoralised ranks to take on the India camp, which has already begun candidate selection and seat-allocation negotiations.
Of the 10 seats for which by-elections are being held, five are held by the Samajwadi Party (SP), three by the BJP, while the NDA’s coalition partners the Rajya Sabha (RLD) and the Nishad Party hold one seat each.
Buoyed by the impressive performance of the recent by-elections in 13 assembly seats across the country, where the opposition alliance won 10 seats and the BJP managed to win just two, both the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party are aiming for a clean sweep in the by-elections.
“We will win the by-elections with a landslide victory…Even leaders of the ruling party are saying that the BJP’s condition in Uttar Pradesh is very bad,” a senior state SP leader said at a press conference. DH.
The SP leader was referring to a video in which BJP MP Ramesh Chandra Mishra was purportedly said that the party was unlikely to come to power again in the 2027 state assembly elections.
He also pointed to a reported tussle between Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya and said the saffron party was witnessing an internal feud for the top post.
Though the outcome of the state assembly by-elections will not have any impact on the BJP-led government in the state, the party is under pressure and appears desperate to perform well in the by-elections.
One of the seats where by-elections will be held is Mirchipur, which is part of the Faizabad Assembly constituency that also includes Ayodhya. Mirchipur’s state legislator and Socialist Party leader Awadhesh Prasad defeated BJP veteran Lal Singh in the Faizabad constituency, emerging as a giant killer in the Assembly elections and dealing a major shock to the saffron party.
By-elections will also be held in Mainpuri constituency, from where SP chairman Akhilesh Yadav was elected in the 2022 state assembly elections. Akhilesh was elected from Kannauj Assembly constituency in the 2024 general elections.
BJP leaders, however, denied allegations that the party was in a weak position. “We have learnt a lesson from the Lok Sabha elections… the Opposition will no longer have a chance,” said a BJP leader here.
In the LS elections, the BJP won 33 seats while its alliance partners RLD and Apna Dal won two and one seat respectively in Uttar Pradesh. In the 2019 LS elections, the BJP and its alliance partners won 64 seats. In the recent LS elections, the SP won 37 seats while its alliance partner Congress won six. The BSP had no seats.
Published July 16, 2024 11:07 IST
