As the final numbers for the Lok Sabha set in, NDA is looking at a total tally of 353 seats in the Lower House. BJP led NDA has been successful in adding to its spectacular performance in the 2014 general elections by jumping from 282 in 2014 to 303 in 2019 general elections. BJP was successful in repeating its stellar performance in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where it had lost the mandate in the assembly polls last year. In Uttar Pradesh, where various ‘experts’ had speculated huge electoral loses for the BJP citing the new found friendship between erstwhile arch rivals SP and the BSP however the final number coming out of the state indicate the caste arithmetic on paper has failed to materialize on the ground into votes.
In Uttar Pradesh, NDA was successful in winning 64 seats while the SP-BSP-RLD Mahagathbandhan won 15 seats and Congress winning just in Rae Bareli even losing family bastion, Amethi. With its 64 seats, the BJP had more reasons to be happy as its vote share grew from 42.3% in 2014 to 49.3% this general elections, this comes despite BJP winning on nine fewer seats as compared to last general elections. However, for SP the vote share saw a significant dip to 18% from 22.2% last election while BSP’s vote share dipped marginally from 19.6% to 19.3%.
Aman Sharma in an article published by The Economic Times sheds light on the interesting scenario which unfolded in Uttar Pradesh, Aman Sharma presents interesting statistics which provide an objective picture of the performance of various alliances in the state. The most striking statistics coming out from the state of Uttar Pradesh are the margins by which Mahagathbandhan candidates lost to the BJP and the number of votes polled for the UPA candidates. In eight constituencies Badaun, Banda, Barabanki, Basti, Dhaurahra, Meerut, Sant Kabir Nagar and Sultanpur- the winning margins of the BJP candidates were less than the votes polled by the Congress candidates. Even votes polled by Congress’ ally Jan Adhikar party, in Machhlishahr parliamentary constituency were more than the winning margin of the BJP candidate.
Congress after failing to join in the SP-BSP-RLD Mahagathbandhan had fielded candidates in a way to cut into BJP’s votes. Mahagathbandhan had also decided not to field any candidate from Amethi and Rae Bareli.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra: BJP will suffer a major setback in UP, they'll lose badly. In those seats where Congress is strong & our candidates are giving a tough fight, Congress will win. Jahan hamare ummedwar thode halke hain, wahan humne aise ummedwar diye hain jo BJP ka vote kaate pic.twitter.com/2f2BMMQCBs
— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) May 1, 2019
Priyanka Gandhi had admitted that her party has fielded candidates with the aim of cutting the vote share of BJP and said that it’s her 100% guarantee that the Congress candidates are going to do the same. However, the statistics indicate that Congress candidates hurt the Mahagathbandhan more than it could have helped it. The Congress emerged third at around 60 seats with managing the second position in just 3 seats Amethi, Fatehpur Sikri and Kanpur.
Mahagathbandhan partner RLD also lost on all the three seats it contested on indicating the Jat vote bank withering away from Ajit Singh’s party. SP also suffered electoral loses while failing to improve on its tally from the 2014 general elections the SP also saw a dip in the winning margin of the critical seat like Mainpuri where Mulayam Singh Yadav took on as Mahagathbandhan candidate. SP also failed to retain Kairana, Phulpur and Gorakhpur PC’s where it had won in the by-poll elections.