Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who won a record second term today celebrated his big triumph with holi colours and sweets at the BJP’s office in Lucknow.
It was a sea of saffron as Yogi Adityanath waved victory signs at hundreds of BJP workers gathered at the party office, many waving the party’s flag. Before the counting of votes, the BJP had promised “early holi” celebrations.
“Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, today the BJP won a majority in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur. The voters have blessed Modi-ji‘s policies of development and good governance,” the Chief Minister told the ecstatic crowd.
Today’s win catapults the saffron-wearing Yogi Adityanath even higher, to the BJP’s top rung.
The win defied predictions of anti-incumbency hitting the BJP in UP amid a devastating wave of Covid and the farmer protests.
Many see Yogi Adityanath, 49, who is known to make divisive speeches, as a Prime Minister candidate one day.
In a recent interview to Reuters, however, the priest-politician said: “I am just a monk… I will serve the people of the state till the party wants or else I will serve people through my … temple.”
BJP has scripted history in Uttar Pradesh as it retained power for the second term in India’s most populous state. While Yogi Adityanath was the CM face of the party, but the campaign was largely led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself. The BJP scored victory in Uttar Pradesh despite Akhilesh Yadav’s challenge, farm protests and caste dynamics.
In the 403-member Uttar Pradesh assembly, the BJP has won 255 seats, 53 more than the halfway mark of 202. Its allies Apna Dal(S) and Nishad Party clinched 12 and 6 seats respectively.
The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) won 111 constituencies and its allies Rashtriya Lok Dal of Jayant Chaudhary 8 and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party of Om Prakash Rajbhar grabbed 6.
While Congress managed to win two seats, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) could only get one seat despite polling 12.88 per cent votes.
The BJP’s vote share rose to 41.29 per cent as against 39.67 per cent in the 2017 assembly elections. The vote share of the SP increased from 21.82 per cent in 2017 to 32.06 per cent.
It was a high-stakes election in UP for the Bharatiya Janata Party as the state sends the highest number of 80 MPs to Lok Sabha and the party’s performance will have a bearing on the 2024 general election.
