Out of nine assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, BJP alliance managed to win seven seats while SP had to be content with only two seats. After the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP had fought the UP by-elections considering it a big issue. In the by-elections, BJP not only got the benefit of being in power but also got the benefit of contesting the elections with full strength.
From CM Yogi Adityanath to Deputy CM Brijesh Pathak and Keshav Prasad Maurya, all the senior BJP leaders had given their full strength. The result of this is that BJP has got double the success in the by-elections.
Big blow to SP
Out of 9 assembly seats of UP, BJP managed to win Ghaziabad, Kundarki, Khair, Majhwan, Phulpur and Katehari seats. RLD has won Meerapur seat with the support of BJP. SP could win only Karhal and Sisamau seats. Out of these 9 seats in 2022, SP had won four seats and BJP had only three seats. Apart from this, RLD and Nishad Party had one seat each.
Lotus blooming in Muslim dominated Kundarki
In the by-elections, BJP has succeeded in defeating the two seats held by SP. Before the elections, both these seats were looking very difficult for BJP whereas they were considered politically favorable for SP. Despite this, BJP has settled the score of defeat in 2024 Lok Sabha elections by fielding ‘Kamal’ on Muslim dominated Kundarki and OBC dominated Katehari assembly seats.
Big loss to BJP in Lok Sabha elections
In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, SP had given a big blow to BJP in Uttar Pradesh on the basis of its PDA formula (backward, Dalit, minority). Out of 80 Lok Sabha seats, SP had managed to win 37 seats while BJP reduced from 62 seats to 33 seats. The defeat in the Lok Sabha elections had shaken BJP to its core. 9 assembly seats became vacant due to 9 MLAs of the state becoming MPs, while 7 became vacant due to the conviction of SP MLA Irfan Solanki from Sisamau seat.
By-election became a question of CM Yogi’s credibility
While Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made the UP by-election a question of his credibility, it was a question of BJP’s prestige. Yogi deployed a team of 30 of his leaders for the by-elections. The responsibilities were assigned to the leaders according to the political mood of the seat. The CM himself took feedback from each seat and then started preparing the political ground for BJP by visiting the by-election districts. For this, CM Yogi worked to lay the political chessboard for the by-elections through development, employment and dialogue.
The account of defeat in Lok Sabha is equal
BJP’s strategy is to save its three seats in the by-elections as well as equalize its defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha by winning the seats dominated by SP. BJP’s concern about these 10 seats is even more because in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP got less votes than SP on six seats. The by-elections to be held on 10 seats are being considered as the semi-finals of the 2027 assembly elections, due to which CM Yogi has started the mission of creating a political atmosphere on the ground.
job fair stakes
After August 15, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath started writing the script for BJP’s victory by visiting different districts. BJP started turning the political atmosphere in its favor with the formula of job fair and CM Yogi’s visit to the by-election seats, because the by-election had become a tough question for BJP.
The reason for BJP’s loss in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections was the employment issue. The resentment of the youth became a major reason for the defeat of BJP. Due to this, CM Yogi has launched a job fair to help the youth. In this way, CM Yogi is not only distributing appointment letters by organizing employment fairs in the by-election districts, but is also making efforts for development and dialogue.
Responsibility of two seats each to top leaders
Yogi Adityanath, Brijesh Pathak, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Bhupendra Chaudhary and Dharampal Saini took charge of two seats each. CM Yogi held public meetings twice on every by-election seat. The move to unite the Hindu votes scattered among the castes by giving a political edge to the Hindutva agenda was also successful. In this way, CM Yogi himself took charge of victory on the by-election seats.
Nishad Party not given seat
Out of the UP by-election seats, there were five seats which are considered strong seats of SP. Karhal, Kundarki, Katehari, Milkipur and Sisamau seats are considered very challenging for BJP. Due to the Lok Sabha election results, Majhwan, Meerapur and Phulpur seats were also not looking easy for BJP. Instead of giving Majhwan and Katehari seats to its ally Nishad Party, BJP thought it better to contest the elections itself.
Apart from the Lok Sabha elections, this time the Sangh is also supporting BJP in its grassroots campaign. In the by-elections, apart from CM Yogi Adityanath, all the other leaders were completely successful in their effort to unite the equations and societies by coming down to the ground and not allowing them to divide.
BJP’s defeat in Awadh-Purvanchal belt
SP was successful in winning the large vote bank of OBCs in its favor through PDA formula in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, especially the votes of Kurmi, Maurya and Nishad communities. Due to this, BJP was completely wiped out in the Awadh and Purvanchal belts of UP. Akhilesh Yadav has understood that if BJP has to be defeated, Yadav and Muslim votes alone will not work unless OBC and Dalit community castes are included. That is why after the Lok Sabha elections, candidates have been fielded from three major OBC castes in the by-elections, which include Yadav, Kurmi and Nishad, but BJP made a big move to break this equation.
Equation of Kurmi and Nishad
BJP won the Katehari seat by fielding BJP’s Dharamraj Nishad, who was competing against SP’s Shobhavati Verma. There were almost equal numbers of voters from Kurmi and Nishad castes. While SP played a bet on Kurmi, BJP spoiled the equation of Kurmi and Nishad by playing on Nishad community. On Majhwan seat, BJP has fielded a candidate from Maurya Samaj, against whom is Nishad candidate from BJP. In this way the bet of Maurya versus Nishad was successful. BJP has fielded Deepak Patel, who comes from Kurmi community, on Phulpur seat.
alliance among OBC castes
BJP had fielded candidates as per a well-thought-out strategy. There should be no alliance between the two OBC castes, hence SP had written the story of victory against Kurmi through Nishad and against Nishad through Maurya Samaj. Not only this, by fielding Thakur Ramveer Singh on Kundarki seat, BJP was successful in consolidating Muslim votes, especially Muslim Rajput votes. By fielding Mithilesh Pal on Meerapur seat, RLD completely failed the equation between SP and BSP.
BJP leaders and workers had put in all their efforts to ensure that their votes reached the booths, while SP and opposition voters could not vote in the same numbers. Due to this, BJP hoisted the flag on the seats held by it as well as on the two seats won by SP in 2022. Apart from this, BJP was also successful in making lotus bloom on the seat held by Nishad Party.
