Learning from the defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has now started its efforts to re-emerge. Instead of pondering over the defeat in the BJP state working committee meeting, it was decided to make the party invincible again. From BJP president JP Nadda to CM Yogi, besides trying to cheer up the depressed workers, they also laid out a roadmap to bring back the lost political support. The strategy has been drawn up to counter the opposition parties’ statement ahead of bypolls to 10 seats in UP and the 2027 assembly elections.
The biggest blow to the BJP in the Lok Sabha elections was in UP, where the party’s Lok Sabha seats fell from 62 to 33. Not only this, the vote share of the party has also decreased by eight and a half percent. The combination of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi and the PDA formula of the party has ruined the BJP equation. The opposition succeeded in breaking the strong social engineering built by the BJP by including Dalits and OBCs. The results of the Lok Sabha polls have increased the BJP’s tension, due to which the BJP was definitely seen looking for a way out of the assembly.
It was expected that the defeat would be discussed in detail and openly at the BJP working committee meeting in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, but an attempt was made to cover up the defeat with a web of statistics. From the inauguration of the State Working Committee to the passing and concluding of the political resolution, the party leaders were seen repeating old issues time and again. However, there was no discussion in the meeting about what action would be taken against the leaders whose statements have hurt the BJP. Not only this, there has been no discussion as to why the OBC castes, considered the BJP’s core votebank, have slipped. In such a situation, what was the roadmap for the emergence of BJP in the working committee?
After BJP’s defeat, the workers remembered
After the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections, BJP has started to remember its workers again. The main reason behind BJP’s defeat in 2024 was the frustration of workers. Sensing this pulse, the BJP leaders in the working committee meeting reminded the workers to respect him. To end the discontent of the workers, Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya said that the organization is bigger than the government, no one is bigger than the organization. Every worker is our pride. The pain of your workers is my pain too.
CM Yogi said BJP workers should not be on the back foot, they have done their job very well. The opposition succeeded in spreading the illusion. Also BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary said that there is nothing greater than the honor of a worker. He further said that I assure that the honor of the worker will not be compromised. In this way an attempt has been made to bring the BJP workers out of the despair of defeat so that they become active again.
BJP’s plan to unite Dalits
BJP did not get success in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections due to the opposition’s statement to change the constitution and abolish reservation. In such a scenario, the BJP now plans to re-unite the Dalits, as the BSP’s Dalit votebank has slipped to the SP and Congress in the Lok Sabha elections. Now BJP has planned to focus on Dalit votes again. It began with the inauguration of the working committee meeting by JP Nadda, who gave a political message to the Dalit community by dedicating a statue of Bhimrao Ambedkar.
In order to unite the Dalit community, the party has also prepared a team of Dalit leaders, who will visit various colonies and explain them. CM Yogi said that the name of Kannauj Medical College was changed. The college, named after Bhimrao Ambedkar, was renamed by the SP government, which was again renamed after Baba Saheb by the BJP. Now the BJP workers will go to the Dalit colonies and inform the people about this. PM Modi declared five places associated with Ambedkar as Panch Tirtha. In this way BJP has planned to help the Dalit society.
Message from Mathura-Kashi along with Ayodhya
The BJP may have lost the Lok Sabha elections in Ayodhya, but it plans to stick to the Hindutva issue. BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary presented a political proposal and said that the meeting will be incomplete without recalling Lakhan Pasi. He said that the soul of India resides in Ayodhya, Kashi and Mathura. Kanwar Yatra was stopped earlier. After 500 years in Ayodhya, the grand Ram temple was built and PM Modi worked to abrogate Article 370.
CM Yogi said that after the start of construction of the grand Ram temple in Ayodhya, now all the pilgrimage sites including Kashi and Mathura are seeing a ‘new look’ and in this scenario everyone has to move once again. Thus, it is clear that the BJP has decided to stick to its core agenda and is being told that it will go ahead. In such a situation, it is clear that the BJP is not going to deviate from its core issue under any circumstances and has decided to play the political chessboard on it.
Roadmap to 2027 with by-elections
In the state working committee meeting, the BJP has decided the roadmap for the by-elections and the assembly elections to be held in 2027. The BJP has set a target before its workers to win the by-elections for the 10 vacant assembly seats in UP. These seats have become vacant after the results of the Lok Sabha elections, in which 5 seats have become vacant due to the resignation of one MLA each from SP, 3 seats from BJP and RLD-Nishad Party. The BJP has targeted 10 seats in the by-elections, which it plans to win at any cost.
BJP’s sole objective is to win the by-elections to end the atmosphere created in the opposition party by winning the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Thus, by winning the by-election, the BJP can stake a political message in UP politics, as the results of the Lok Sabha elections have increased the tension for the BJP in 2027. If we look at the way SP and Congress have won 43 Lok Sabha seats, there are 223 seats in the Legislative Assembly. In this way, BJP wants to lay its political chessboard for the by-elections as well as for the 2027 assembly elections.
Contemplating defeat, but no action
The defeat in the Lok Sabha elections was discussed in the BJP working committee meeting, but no action was taken. Why castes which are considered as BJP’s core vote bank have been dispersed into the most backward castes? Instead of mulling over these questions, the leadership’s focus in the meeting was to provide clarifications and convey the looming threat to Hindu society due to Rahul-Akhilesh’s success. What should BJP do to regain its lost base? How will the BJP leadership deal with the rioters? This time there was no discussion and no discussion on the people whose statement led to BJP’s defeat.
The meeting emphasized that when the working committee members return from Lucknow, they should not beat their heads in defeat but should promote the achievement of BJP forming the government for the third consecutive time in the country. Leaders should go and inspire the workers and convince people that the formation of BJP government is historic. The working committee also discussed how to cut the opposition before the by-elections and how to break the illusion of opposition till every booth.
