BJP fares poorly in UP,Khanduri loses in Uttarakhand

The biggest jolt to the BJP has come in UP where its expectations were high but these hopes were dashed as it could manage only 49 seats,two less than the 2007 total of 51.

BJP president Nitin Gadkari and leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj accepted that the results had not come upto their expectations and there was a need to introspect.

“In Uttar Pradesh,the results have not been upto our expectations…. There was a polarisation of votes between two parties. The people were against Mayawati and so chose Samajwadi Party as the alternative,” Gadkari said.

He reasoned that since there was resentment against the BSP rule and the electorate wanted to choose a party which was in a position to get the majority,the voters felt their vote would go waste if they voted for any other party other than the SP. He said the party does not hold anybody responsible for its performance in UP.

Swaraj said there was a need for serious introspection about the BJP performance in UP.

Interestingly,the BJP was more focussed on dismissing the Congress in UP,stating that the party had made it a prestige issue with Rahul Gandhi in the forefront but performed badly.

Swaraj termed the “dismal performance” of Congress in the Assembly polls as the “second consecutive defeat” of Rahul Gandhi.

“The Congress and the media had created a big hype about Rahul Gandhi. The Congress had made it a prestige issue. These results show that this is the second consecutive defeat for Rahul,” she said.

She said the mandate in the elections is against “corruption,price rise and communal politics” of the Congress.

Asked about the BJP’s performance in the elections,she said the results were “not unexpected for us in Punjab and Uttarakhand,but we could not do well in UP. It has been a mixed bag for us. We could have done better in UP.”

Gadkari,however,put up a brave face and maintained that the results were a victory,barring the outcome in UP.

However,there were murmurs within the BJP that had Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi campaigned in UP,the party would have gained. Asked about Modi,Gadkari said his good wishes were with the party in UP.

“He was busy with his Sadhbhavana fasts and other pre-occupations,so he was unable to campaign in UP. But the good wishes of all our leaders was with us,” Gadkari said.

Swaraj said though Modi did not campaign in UP,he prayed for the party’s good performance in the state.

The party top brass also disagreed that not projecting a chief minister had led to this lacklustre performance in UP.

“A leader does not matter much in BJP. We work as one organisation. It was a well-thought out strategy not to project a chief minister,” Gadkari said.

A section within the BJP was of the opinion that Uma Bharti should have been projected as the chief ministerial candidate but others felt this would have led to dissensions as she is not from UP.