LUCKNOW: The BJP’s poor showing in the Lok Sabha elections in UP was a result of the party’s over-dependence on the popularity of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and its failure to gauge the underlying anger against some sitting MPs, the BJP’s poll review has revealed.
The party’s slogan “Abki baar 400 paar” also failed to be accurately explained to the electorate as the opposition repeated the “Constitution is under threat” narrative to consolidate minority votes, while making strong inroads into the OBC and Dalit communities. “The over-reliance on the Modi-Yogi charisma and slogan backfired,” a senior BJP functionary told the party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, who was on a two-day visit to Lucknow recently.
Even committed workers felt abandoned and became inactive in the face of indiscriminate nomination of officials from other parties as candidates for the elections, a senior party source said.
The BJP won just 33 seats in the LS elections against 62 in 2019 in UP, prompting the party leadership to plan a new electoral strategy to win back the OBC and SC/ST votes, which account for 70% of the electorate, to counter the SP’s electoral narrative of PDA – Pichhda (OBC), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minority).
BJP’s UP SC/ST Morcha chief Ram Chandra Kannaujia said the party would launch a campaign to consolidate Dalits and OBCs. SC/ST ministers would start camping in Dalit-dominated sectors, he said.
The party’s Dalit leaders stressed the need to give adequate representation to the various sub-castes of the caste in the Rajya Sabha and the legislative council. Of the 24 MPs in the Rajya Sabha from UP, only two, Mithlesh Kumar and Brij Lal, are Dalits. Similarly, in the legislative council, only two, Lalji Nirmal and Surendra Chaudhary, of the BJP’s 79 MPs, are Dalits.
The party’s slogan “Abki baar 400 paar” also failed to be accurately explained to the electorate as the opposition repeated the “Constitution is under threat” narrative to consolidate minority votes, while making strong inroads into the OBC and Dalit communities. “The over-reliance on the Modi-Yogi charisma and slogan backfired,” a senior BJP functionary told the party’s national general secretary (organisation) BL Santhosh, who was on a two-day visit to Lucknow recently.
Even committed workers felt abandoned and became inactive in the face of indiscriminate nomination of officials from other parties as candidates for the elections, a senior party source said.
The BJP won just 33 seats in the LS elections against 62 in 2019 in UP, prompting the party leadership to plan a new electoral strategy to win back the OBC and SC/ST votes, which account for 70% of the electorate, to counter the SP’s electoral narrative of PDA – Pichhda (OBC), Dalit and Alpsankhyak (minority).
BJP’s UP SC/ST Morcha chief Ram Chandra Kannaujia said the party would launch a campaign to consolidate Dalits and OBCs. SC/ST ministers would start camping in Dalit-dominated sectors, he said.
The party’s Dalit leaders stressed the need to give adequate representation to the various sub-castes of the caste in the Rajya Sabha and the legislative council. Of the 24 MPs in the Rajya Sabha from UP, only two, Mithlesh Kumar and Brij Lal, are Dalits. Similarly, in the legislative council, only two, Lalji Nirmal and Surendra Chaudhary, of the BJP’s 79 MPs, are Dalits.
