New Delhi: Billed as the crucial semi-final before the ultimate test of Lok Sabha elections in 2019, the 'crown state' of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday witnessed the arrival of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led BJP with flying colours. Defying all odds, the BJP struck over a 300-seat mark, bringing the highly touted SP-Congress alliance to its knees.
Here are the ten key takeaways from Uttar Pradesh Election results 2017:
UP is not Bihar: All that worked in Bihar elections 2016 failed to take off in Uttar Pradesh – the success of Bihar’s mahagathbandhan of RJD, JDU and Congress was not replicated in the Uttar Pradesh. This leaves the SP leaders thinking if it was a coming together of unequals? Was the alliance a bad strategy considering Congress’s dismal performance for the past three decades? Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav could have gone alone, especially after wresting power from father and Uncle.
The Dalit-Muslim unity didn’t take off: The amount of noise the unity of Dalits and Muslims created, it was not matched by the outcome on the D-Day. If the two groups, Muslims and Dalits, had voted en bloc, the Bahujan Samaj Party would not have been running on number three. The two groups together constitute 40% of voter percentage, and can easily form or topple a government with this strength.
Prashant Kishor's first failure: The Prashant Kishor bubble has been burst. His resume would mention designing a winnable campaign for the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the success of the grand alliance in Bihar. But Uttar Pradesh was not for him.
Muslims voted for BJP? The mandate given to Bharatiya Janta Party appears to have an overwhelming support of Muslims. Did Triple Talaq issue bring Muslim women to vote for the BJP?
BJP makes a comeback after decades, while Congress faces worst performance: The Bharatiya Janata Party won 300+ seats, putting up the best show that was not even seen during Kalyan Singh’s regime as the Chief Minister. On the other hand, Congress faced embarrassment for winning seats in single digit.
Mayawati’s strategy of giving 100 Muslim candidates tickets didn’t work: The BJP didn’t give any ticket to the Muslim candidate, while Mayawati gave tickets to 100 of them. Her strategy didn’t work with Muslims either, and as it appears led to the consolidation of Hindu votes in favor of the BJP.
Women voted against the prevailing law and order situation: The data by the Election Commission of India revealed that women voters came out in big numbers to cast their votes. With the BJP getting the massive mandate, the women have voted for safer state with better law and order situation.
Brand Modi intact: Despite demonetisation, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal has not gone away from the mind of the voters in Uttar Pradesh. The act was taken as an axe against the rich and in favour of the poor.
BJP won over other castes by caste-based tickets: With the aggressive strategy, and to the point caste calculations, the saffron party won over the non-Yadav OBCs like Kurmis, Koeris, Lodhs, Telis, Kumhars and Kahars. The BJP wooed them by giving tickets to candidates belonging to these castes.
Nothing is permanent in politics: With BJP’s thundering victory, it is again reiterated no fortune or failure is permanent in politics – what goes comes back maybe with big numbers.
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