Lucknow: The BJP’s spectacular victory in the urban local body elections and assembly by-polls couldn’t have come at a better time, for these triumphs cushioned the impact of the Karnataka loss to the Congress, allowing the BJP to keep the cadres motivated in the most populous state ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
The BJP also won in several minority-dominated areas for the first time – its win in Suar assembly seat in Muslim-dominated Rampur in the assembly by-poll, for instance, meant Samajwadi Party’s third straight loss to the BJP in its bastion.
Party leaders admitted that such forays in Muslim-dominated localities showcased the party’s growing acceptance among ‘pasmanda’ (backward) Muslims who had been among the beneficiaries of the Modi-Yogi government’s welfare schemes.
“This time, 395 Muslims were given tickets in civic polls. These included places where the BJP never contested earlier and in all such places, either the party candidates have won or fared well. The data is still being collated but in places like Gopamau, Hardoi, Aligarh-Moradabad’s Dharampur, Amroha, Ghosi seat in Mau and Qazipura seat in Ballia, our candidates have won for the first time while in Azamgarh’s Mubarakpur and Raje Sultanpur in Ambedkarnagar we have done well, especially if we consider that either we never contested here earlier or didn’t do well ,” said UP government’s minorities minister Danish Azad Ansari.
“All this means Muslims are becoming aware that while others used them as vote banks, the ‘MY’ or the Modi-Yogi factor helped them by connecting them with government welfare schemes. If one doesn’t close eyes to reality, one would be able to see how poor Muslims have now become ‘MY’ fans,” said Ansari, a ‘pasmanda’ himself.
The campaigns by chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who held more than 50 rallies across the state for these polls, helped BJP candidates, especially on mayoral seats.
“Yogi ji addressed three to four rallies on an average and while our political opponents preferred to cool their heels in air-conditioned chambers, the chief minister’s campaigning along with that of senior BJP leaders made a huge impact,” said UP BJP spokesman Manish Shukla.
By late evening, the results had started firming up. Apart from winning all 17 mayoral seats, a record 84 nagar palika parishad chairmen’s posts were won by party candidates. As many as 812 corporators had won on BJP ticket against SP’s 191 and 187 nagar panchayat chairmen.
“These wins actually mean a lot as these results coincided with Karnataka developments. UP is one state where the party can’t afford to falter and thankfully, while Karnataka didn’t go our way, UP wins have ensured that the winning momentum continues,” a senior BJP leader said.
