UP Civic Polls: Opposition Fails To Crack The Code Once Again
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
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By Linus Garg
First publised on 2023-05-15 08:04:22
About the Author
Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.
View all posts by this Author
The saffron wave continues unabated in the politically-crucial Uttar Pradesh. The BJP has won10% more seats in the civic polls in the state, proving that its grip on the state has not loosened and has in fact tightened. The party has gained handsomely not only in the 17 municipal corporations in the state but has also added to its tally in the nagar palika parishads and nagar panchayats. 80 candidates of the party (out of a total of 110) won in the state capital Lucknow and it got two-thirds majority in 5 other corporations.
The BJP got a majority in 15 of the 17 corporations and the mayoral position in all of them. It could not get majority in Ayodhya and Faizabad. In parishads it got 89 seats (70 in 2018) and in panchayats 191 (100 in 2018). The complete dominance of the party washed away all other parties including the SP, BSP and the Congress. The BSP, which controlled two corporations in 2108 drew a blank this year. The Congress also failed to reverse its declining fortunes in the state and slid from 9 seats to just 4 seats in parishads and 14 from 17 in panchayats.
The results will come as a shot in the arm for the BJP smarting under a comprehensive loss in Karnataka. UP is, and has always been, central to the BJP election plan in general elections. With the highest number of seats in the Lok Sabha and a hopelessly divided opposition with the main national opposition party, the Congress, reduced to insignificance in the state, the party sees its strong performance in UP as central to its returning to power in 2024. Despite several alliance computations and permutations, the opposition parties have not been able to crack the UP code and the present civic election results show that they will not be able to do it in 2024 too.
