THE BJP’s comprehensive win in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections finally broke a 36-year-old jinx of the incumbent Government being voted back to power in the State. The incumbent UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath led the BJP to poll victory, riding a high-decibel election campaign, with thrust on the development agenda along with welfare schemes. Prime Minister Narendra Modi led the BJP’s campaign from the outset, first by fully backing the Chief Minister and afterwards by leading an intense campaign in the State. According to the latest data of the Election Commission of India on the trends of the counting of the votes, the BJP has crossed the majority mark of 202 Assembly seats in the State while leading in more than 245 constituencies, whereas the Samajwadi Party is leading on 122 seats and Congress leading only in one constituency.

 

Moreover, the exit poll results had also predicted that the monk turned politician, Yogi Adityanath is on course to retain power in Uttar Pradesh for the second time. The BJP fielded its top leadership, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah, in the campaigning to bolster the party’s support base. During the campaigns, Adityanath, who is in the electoral fray from Gorakhpur Urban constituency, got a new name “Baba Bulldozer”. “Bulldozer” is a reference to the action taken by the Yogi Government to vacate illegally occupied land and properties using the Bulldozer machine. Moreover, PM Modi himself was deeply involved in the BJP campaigning for the UP polls and ensured that there was no factionalism in the party.

 

The Prime Minister heaped praises on the UP CM Yogi Adityanath for the development works done in the State and coined a new slogan on “UP plus Yogi bahut hai upyogi (UP plus Yogi is very useful)”. PM Modi held rallies in Prayagraj, Kaushambi, Bahraich, Amethi, and a massive roadshow in Varanasi which attracted a huge crowd.