If polls could be equated with ‘fatafat’ cricket like the Indian Premier League, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has a very good strike rate vis-Ã -vis election rallies he addressed and the success the party achieved there. The strike rate of the chief minister in UP bypolls is around 85 percent, while it is over 73 percent in Bihar elections.
In UP, Yogi Adityanath addressed seven election meetings and the BJP won six seats while in Bihar, out of 19 election rallies that he addressed, the National Democratic Alliance won 14 seats. In the first phase of Bihar polls, Yogi addressed three meetings but in his meetings in tribal and border areas where he raised infiltration issues, the people lapped it up.
Addressing an election rally in Katihar, Yogi Adityanath had threatened to throw illegal migrants out. Addressing the rally Yogi said: “Modi has found a solution to the infiltration problem in the form of the Citizenship Amendment Act. He has ensured that all those who fled Pakistan, Afghanistan and Bangladesh following religious persecution feel safe here. On the other hand, those infiltrators who try to undermine the sovereignty and integrity of the country will be thrown out.”
Though the Janata Dal (United) leaders opposed it said and Bihar Chief Minister called it a “faltu baat”, but Yogi’s words were lapped up and people who voted for the NDA for national security.
“Yogi Adityanath talked about issues like Kashmir, Article 370, Pakistan and China which people wanted to listen to and this did magic for him,” said Nomita P Kumar from the Giri Institute of Development Studies in Lucknow.
But in UP, he talked about development. Yogi led the campaign in the state by addressing public meetings in all the Assembly constituencies where bypolls were held on November 3.
The result of the bypolls in UP has put a stamp on the development-oriented approach of the Yogi government in the state.
The narrative for the bypoll was very simple and Yogi only concentrated on the works his government had done during the past three-and-half years. The results have given a befitting reply to the opposition which was trying to build a narrative that the performance of the Yogi government would be the criterion of voting.
The BJP cruised smoothly in six out of seven constituencies, registering victory in Tundla, Naugawan Sadat, Ghatampur, Bangarmau, Bulandshahr and Deoria, dishing out a crushing defeat to the entire opposition.
Significantly, the opposition has failed to register any significant presence since 2017 and, as often said by the BJP leaders, indulged in the politics of conspiracy. The bypolls, though only on seven seats, were being considered as a semifinal before the battle of 2022, and they proved that the BJP continues to be blessed by the people of the state.