Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections are due early next year and the BJP seems to be in pole position for now. The party had crossed the 300-mark in the 403-seat House in 2017 elections, winning close to 40% votes, but 20 seats that saw a margin of less than 5,000 votes the last time might be a challenge this time too.
Aware of the task ahead, the BJP has come up with a strategy tailored for seats that saw tight margin the last time plus those that were lost to the party.
“Every election has its own issues and the situation is different each time. In 2017, we told the people about the shortcomings and failures of the Samajwadi Party government. Our party had also issued a Sankalp Patra. Today, we have delivered on the promises we had made in that Sankalp Patra. The organisation of the BJP has also been strengthened in comparison to 2017,” UP BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi told News18.
“We had 1.87 crore BJP members before the 2017 polls, but today we have 2.5 crore members. Now we are trying to recruit 1.5 crore new members. We have also been working on a special strategy for seats where the margin was less and those we lost, and that is why we believe we will win the upcoming elections with a thumping majority,” he added.
The BJP won 312 seats in 2017. Of these, the margin was narrow in 20 seats with the Samajwadi Party in close second despite the Modi wave. These seats may well decide if the BJP is able to cross the 300-mark for the second consecutive time. Here’s a look at some of these crucial seats and the vote margin in 2017:
Shravasti – 445 votes
Patti – 1,473 votes
Bhadohi – 1,102 votes
Farenda – 2,354 votes
Tanda – 1,725 votes
Bharthana – 1,968 votes
Aonla – 3,546 votes
Maholi – 3,717 votes
Bidhuna – 3,910 votes
Dhaurahra – 3,353 votes
Patiali – 3,771 votes
Gorakhpur Rural – 4410 votes
Nakur – 4,057
In another worrying factor for the ruling party, in some of the seats, the total votes polled for the Samajwadi Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), that have partnered for the 2022 elections, either exceed the BJP’s tally or further narrow the margin. These seats include Siwalkhas, Kithor, Baraut and Baldev.
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