This refers to the article, “In defeat, BJP has a reason to smile” (June 11) by Biswajeet Banerjee. More often than not, it is caste arithmetic which decides the fate of political parties in the largest state of the country, Uttar Pradesh. Hence, it is not surprising to learn that the ruling party has lost Kairana and Noorpur by-polls.
It is not that farmers’ issues or any other do not matter to the voters there but it boils down to how a particular caste votes on the voting day. And yes, it is a positive sign for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that it retained its vote share, but ultimately, a united Opposition was the main reason behind the loss.
And now when Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav has categorically said that his party will not mind playing second fiddle to Bahujan Samaj Party in next elections, it is going to be very tough for the BJP to win the majority of seats in Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 General Election. Party president Amit Shah will have to do lot of arithmetic and explore various permutations and combinations to counter the growing threat of the united Opposition.