Uttar Pradesh polls: BJP in upbeat mood
The Muslim vote bank also seems to have split, which, the BJP claims, has been to its benefit.
New Delhi: The BJP is in a upbeat mood after the third phase of polling in Uttar Pradesh. Saffron poll managers say that the feud in the Samajwadi Party’s first family could dent the ruling party's poll prospects in the region, which is also known as the ‘Yadav belt’.
The BJP poll strategists are also of the view that with both the Mayawati-led BSP and the SP-Congress alliance going on a minority overdrive, the non-Yadav OBCs and the upper castes have rallied around the saffron party. And the much talked about reverse consolidation in favour of the BJP is now rapidly taking place, they say. The Muslim vote bank also seems to have split, which, the BJP claims, has been to its benefit.
During the last Assembly elections, the SP had bagged 55 of the total 69 Assembly constituencies that went to polls on Sunday.
The BJP, which had won just five seats in this region in the 2012 Assembly elections, is confident of winning more than 20 seats this time.
The BSP had won six and two seats were won by the Congress in the last Assembly elections from here. The 69 seats are spread over 12 districts. Some of the key districts that went to polls in the third phase include Farrukhabad, Hardoi.