Uttar Pradesh polls: It will be a close fight for BJP, Congress-SP
Aware that the outcome of the UP polls would decide the tone of the 2019 general election, the BJP placed all its cards on the deck.
New Delhi: The stage is set for the final lap in the high-stakes seven-phase Uttar Pradesh elections. Reports emanating from ground zero so far indicate a close fight between the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance and the BJP.
On the fate of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, opinions vary from one extreme to another. While one section of political pundits claim “Maya is no illusion”, others feel the BSP supremo will lag far behind in the race for the throne in Lucknow.
Of the 40 seats going to the polls on Wednesday, the SP is contesting 31 and the Congress the remaining nine. If the 2012 results are to be taken into consideration, the BJP will need a major swing of votes to make its mark.
In 2012, of the 40 seats, the SP won 23, the BSP five, the BJP four, the Congress three, and the rest were won by others. All eyes, however, are now on Varanasi, the home turf of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
That all is not well for the BJP in Varanasi became clear with the PM not only camping there three days but also holding two roadshows in his home constituency. Aware that the outcome of the UP polls would decide the tone of the 2019 general election, the BJP placed all its cards on the deck.
The BJP, which had initially decided to stick to the development plank, shifted to the politics of polarisation, bellicose nationalism and religion. BJP spokesman Shahnawaz Hussain said that the “SP has already lost the elections”.
The SP-Congress alliance is, on the other hand, banking on “youth power”, as well as Muslim and Yadav consolidation. Stressing the age factor, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said in Jaunpur on Tuesday: “We will form a government of young people. Age has caught up with Modi and it is showing its impact on him.”