TMC Senator Saket Gokhale on Monday morning came down heavily on the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government over news reports claiming that an internal BJP report cited “lack of support from the DM” as the reason for the party’s poor performance in the state.
Sharing a print report titled, “Lack of support from BJP task force, state MPs, ministers and DM found to have led to setback in Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections,” Saket accused the BJP of pressurising the DM to rig the elections in its favour.
The report, based on the findings of a BJP task force, attributed the party’s poor performance in the Uttar Pradesh Lok Sabha elections to a variety of factors. The 40-member task force shared its findings with the BJP high command.
“This is as brazen as it gets. An internal BJP report, purportedly prepared to validate the party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh, cites ‘lack of support from DMs’, also known as district commissioners, who are the poll-counting officers for the area,” Gokhale wrote on X.
Raising serious allegations against the BJP, Gokhale wrote, “It is clear from this that the BJP, under the nose of PM Modi-appointed Election Commission, has openly manipulated and coerced the DM to rig the elections in its favour.”
“And now several DMs who did not ‘help’ the BJP during the elections have been transferred,” he added.
Slamming the BJP, he said, “The fact that they went so far as to exert pressure on the DM shows that they are a gang of criminals who will do anything for power. But despite openly trying to manipulate the government machinery during the elections, Modi and the BJP failed to get a majority.”
According to a report by ThePrint, a BJP task force cited sabotage by ruling party lawmakers, non-cooperation by state government officials and a disconnect between BJP candidates and voters as the main reasons for the party’s dismal performance in Uttar Pradesh in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
BJP’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh
In the recently concluded general elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP won 33 of the 80 seats in the assembly. The Samajwadi Party outnumbered the BJP with 37 seats, while its coalition partner, the Indian National Congress, secured six seats.
The BJP’s performance in Uttar Pradesh, the state Modi himself handpicked to be elected to the Lok Sabha, has been a cause for concern for the party’s top brass.
Following the results, the BJP announced it would introspect on the possible reasons for its poor performance.
More than a month later, the BJP task force has come up with possible reasons for the defeat.
Published: Monday, July 01, 2024 09:53 AM IST
