UP BJP highlights 6 key reasons in 15-page report on poor poll show

The Uttar Pradesh BJP unit has submitted a 15-page report to the party top brass, citing six major reasons for its poor performance in the Lok Sabha elections held earlier this year.

Feedback was reportedly collected from 40,000 people to assess the party’s poll performance, especially its loss in key constituencies such as Amethi and Faizabad, which contains Ayodhya.

Six key reasons

The feedback has reportedly identified six major reasons for the BJP underwhelming poll show. These include perceived administrative high-handedness, paper leaks, discontent among party functionaries, the employment of contractual workers in government positions, shifts in electoral support, and a reduction in Dalit votes.

One party leader reportedly pointed out that at least 15 paper leaks have happened in the state in the past three years. Another highlighted the fact that government jobs were being taken by contractual workers, strengthening the Opposition narrative of the government being against reservations. Statements by party leaders against reservation policies further worsened the situation.

Ego clash?

Another said officials such as district magistrates exercise more power than the MLAs making party workers feel humiliated. The party is losing the strong connections built over the years by RSS and BJP workers. The report has called for the need to treat party workers with respect.

The state unit pointed out that the opposition effectively raised issues that resonated with the people. “Issues such as the Old Pension Scheme resonated with senior citizens, while concerns like Agniveer and paper leaks resonated with the youth,” the report added.

Shifting vote banks

The report also cited a sizeable shrink in Thakur and Yadav vote banks, weakened backing from the Kurmi and Maurya communities, the decreased vote share of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and the Congress’s improved performance in certain regions.

The report says the BJP’s vote share fell by 8 per cent across the entire state and called on the party leadership to take measure to prevent future elections from being reduced to a contest between “agada versus pichhada” (advantaged versus disadvantaged).

Resurgent SP

In the Lok Sabha elections, Opposition INDIA bloc’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress bagged 43 of the state’s 80 Lok Sabha seats as against the NDA’s 36. The latter had 64 in 2019. The SP alone secured 37 seats, skyrocketing from five in 2019. The BJP was reduced to 33 seats from 62 in 2019.

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s supporters refuse to admit he was to blame for the debacle. According to them, his command over the administration and focus on stringent law and order and discipline have helped the BJP maintain its grip on the state. They say the key issue was the repetition of unpopular candidates, in which Adityanath played no role.

Internal strife?

The report has been prepared based on the discussions carried out during a review meeting chaired by Adityanath in Lucknow on July 14, in which BJP President JP Nadda was also present. While he said “the BJP paid the price for its over-confidence”, his deputy, Keshav Maurya, said the “organization is bigger than the government”.

“In the BJP’s scheme of things, the organisation always takes precedence over the government. Therefore, all ministers, MLAs, and public representatives must respect party workers and take care of their dignity. I am a party worker first and then deputy CM,” Maurya said in a veiled dig at the CM.

Eye on bypolls

As these comments smacked of internal strife among state party leaders, it has reportedly been highlighted to the BJP central leadership that the state unit must resolve its differences at once and start grassroots work to prevent the sentiment from evolving into an “upper caste versus backward caste” conflict.

The party central leadership has reportedly instructed the state leaders to resolve their differences and concentrate on the upcoming bypolls to 10 Assembly seats.