Before the assembly elections, the Uttar Pradesh government has passed two litmus tests by winning block pramukh (Block panchayat chief) and Zila Panchayat Adhyaksh (District Council President) elections. There are 825 posts of block panchayat chief in the state, of which, the BJP won 648 seats and the Samajwadi Party came a distant second with 103 seats.
A few days ago, the results of the district council president were announced and BJP won 67 out of 75 seats while SP was reduced to 5. On the other hand, BSP – the other major party in state politics, decided to keep away from the Panchayat elections.
Prime Minister Modi and other senior BJP leaders congratulated Yogi Adityanath for the victory. “@BJP4UP has also raised its flag in the election of block chiefs in Uttar Pradesh. @myogiadityanath The benefits that the public has got from the government’s policies and public interest schemes have been reflected in the party’s massive victory. All party workers deserve congratulations for this victory,” tweeted Prime Minister Modi.
Amit Shah also took to Twitter to congratulate Yogi Adityanath and BJP workers. “This grand victory of BJP in the Uttar Pradesh block chief election is a result of the public’s faith in the welfare policies of the Yogi government under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi ji. Congratulations to Yogi Adityanath and all the hardworking workers of the party on this victory,” Shah tweeted in Hindi.
उत्तर प्रदेश ब्लॉक प्रमुख चुनाव में @BJP4UP को मिली यह भव्य जीत प्रधानमंत्री @narendramodi जी के मार्गदर्शन में योगी सरकार की जनकल्याणकारी नीतियों पर जनता के विश्वास का प्रतिफल है।
इस विजय पर @myogiadityanath जी, @swatantrabjp जी व पार्टी के सभी कर्मठ कार्यकर्ताओं को बधाई।
— Amit Shah (Modi Ka Parivar) (@AmitShah) July 10, 2021
With the thumping victory in Panchayat polls at two levels, the Yogi Adityanath has shown the opposition that it is ready to decimate them in the assembly election of 2022.
BJP’s massive victory in the Panchayat elections shows the kind of popularity that Yogi Adityanath enjoys and how his appeal cuts across the caste and regions. In the last few years, Yogi Adityanath has been the main target of the opposition leaders because they want to ensure that BJP loses the 2022 elections in Uttar Pradesh – the most important state for any political party.
In 2017 Assembly polls, BJP managed to receive a gigantic mandate by securing a 41.4 per cent vote share, which translated to the BJP winning 325 seats in a 403-member state assembly. Nobody had anticipated such a huge wave of Yogi Adityanath in the state and the opposition and detractors were left dumbfounded at the magnitude of the victory.
Fast forward four years, Yogi has become the tallest leader in the country. From developing UP into an industrial state to reducing crime to tackling the first and second wave of the coronavirus pandemic effectively, UP has grown strength to strength with Yogi at the helm.
As reported by TFI, according to an ABP-C Voter survey conducted in March earlier this year, if elections were to held now, BJP would storm into power once again. The BJP is projected to win 289 seats in the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly. Meanwhile, SP is projected to be the second-largest party with 59 seats followed by BSP with 38 seats but not posing any real challenge to the BJP.
BJP can afford to let its guard down and go easy on the election preparations but ‘ruthless’ seems to be the keyword passed along from the party high command. The preparations have begun and despite the sorry situation of the opposition especially the BSP, the BJP does not want to leave any loophole in its electoral preparedness. Thus, there is no doubt that Yogi is storming back to power, the only question is, by what margin?
