- It is for the first time in six assembly elections that the ruling party is voted again
- Yogi to continue as chief minister
- BSP, Congress languish
- SP-led coalition could not catch the imagination of the people
Yogi Adityanath is all set to swear in as chief minister once again after registering an unprecedented victory in Uttar Pradesh. In the last five elections, no ruling party was voted to power for the second successive term. It is for the first time that BJP under Modi-Yogi combination has done it in twenty years. BJP has established unassailable lead over Samajwadi Party alliance in all over UP, including that of Western UP where the farmers were supposed to be angry with Modi-Yogi dispensation.At the end of the day, the BJP bagged 274 seats while the SP won 124, 72 more seats that what it won in 2017. Congress had to contend with two and BSP one seat.
Yodi Adityanath won in Gorakhpur, Akhilesh Yadav in Karhal, SP’s Shivpal Yadav in Jaswant Nagar and Keshav Prasad Maurya, deputy chief minister, in Sirathu. The elections to five State assemblies described as semi-finals to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, gave a huge mandate in favour of the BJP indicating the future scenario which is likely to emerge after the next general elections would be pretty much like the present one. UP with 80 Lok Sabha seats is a very important State in terms of general elections.
Samajwadi party which had alliance with the Congress in 2017 assembly elections and with the BSP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections had now gone in for alliance with smaller parties building a powerful alternative coalition to that of BJP’s. Beside Muslim-Yadav combination, the party was expected to gain from its alliance with smaller parties representing Other Backward Classes. the SP has improved its position remarkably from 2017.
It is time to congratulate the media which came very near the reality in its exit polls. In the past, the exit polls proved correct only to the extent of 65 to 70 percent. The BSP and the Congress have been relegated to the background leading in four constituencies each. Beside its appeal to Hindu voters, the lack of strong opposition and the fact that welfare measures have been reaching the people and less anxiety about the law and order problem are some of the factors that must have helped the BJP to retain power.
