What went so wrong for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh that its tally dropped from 62 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 to just 33 this time? The party has put in place an elaborate system to arrive at the million-dollar answer to the question that kept it from touching the 272-mark in the Lok Sabha on its own.
What is perplexing for the BJP in the aftermath of the Lok Sabha election 2024 results is not just the sharp decline of the number of seats in Uttar Pradesh, but a slump in its vote share as well. In 2019, the saffron party received nearly 50% vote share, while this time it settled a little above 41%.
The BJP has now pressed its organisation to find out the answers to some key questions within a week. A report is to be submitted by June 25 to the state leadership following which it would be studied by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, BJP state president Bhupendra Chowdhury, UP BJP in-charge Baijayant Panda and co-incharge Sanjeev Chawrasia.
While the BJP has entrusted the exercise with its senior leadership, the questions would be put to booth and mandal-level workers, say party sources. The party has prepared a set of questions which will be taken to the micro-level. One BJP leader has been appointed in-charge of each Assembly constituency.
The questions won’t be asked to the voters but to party district leadership and leadership at the block-level, including BJP cadre. Sources say the party thinks the best way to correct itself in Uttar Pradesh is by getting direct critique from as close to the base of the organisation pyramid as possible, with eye on the 2027 Assembly elections.
Sample questions include — How well did the BJP candidate gel with the people? Why did Hindu voters vote on caste considerations? Did any decision by the state or central government irk the voters? Were BJP cadre active on ground? How good or bad was the communication between the organisation and the concerned candidate? Did the BJP excel or fail in booth management? Did BJP senior leadership woo their caste enough and mingle with them?
BJP sources say the campaign of the opposition INDIA parties in each seat the party lost or won by a slim margin will be studied. Why the BJP failed in mounting a counter-narrative is a question the concerned leadership will be asked and held accountable for.
However, the choice of candidate will remain out of the purview of such questions as the party feels the final announcement of candidates by its central election committee took place after many rounds of discussion with the central leadership which was preceded by similar rounds of discussion among the UP BJP state leadership.
As many as 27 sitting MPs lost the elections this time from Uttar Pradesh. This includes seven Union ministers and two state ministers who had to bite the dust. Jat leaders like Sanjeev Balyan lost from Jat land Muzaffarnagar while Maneka Gandhi lost from Sultanpur.
In Purvanchal, there are a total of 12 seats — Varanasi, Machhlishahr, Jaunpur, Bhadohi, Mirzapur, Chandauli, Robertsganj, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Azamgarh, Lalganj and Ballia. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP, with ally Apna Dal-Soneylal, won seven of these seats, losing only Jaunpur, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Lalganj and Azamgarh. Later, it won Azamgarh in a bypoll.
But this time around, the BJP won just three, including one by Apna Dal-Soneylal. It has lost Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Chandauli, Robertsganj, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Lalganj, Azamgarh and Ballia.
Comments
0 comment