BJP took BSP-SP pact lightly

BOTH Assembly seats in UP saw a consolidation of OBC, Dalit and Muslim votes.

Saffron poll managers failed to gauge the impact of the SP-BSP arrangement, which jolted the BJP in prestigious Lok Sabha constituencies — Phulpur and Gorakhpur, in Uttar Pradesh — whose bypoll results were declared on Wednesday. BJP poll managers are also rattled by BSP supremo Mayawati’s strategy of transferring her party’s votes to the SP candidates.

Untill now, the SP and the BSP were considered arch rival in the state politics. The BJP top brass is expected to review the poll loss, especially the Gorakhpur loss which is seen as a rejection of its Hindutva plank as the poll result were seen as a “semi-final” to the next year’s general polls.

The poll results have also boosted the opposition’s efforts of putting up a united front against it in 2019.

UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath accepted the defeat and conceded that the last minute alliance of the SP-BSP worked against his party in the bypolls.

The BJP leadership, which was rejoicing over demolition of the Left citadel, Tripura, were in for a rude shock when the party’s candidate lost the key parliamentary seat, Gorakhpur.

Senior minister in the Yogi Adityanath government, Siddharth Nath Singh admitted that “We had not seen the SP and BSP coming together but since we have come to know of this now...And though there is still a long time (ahead of the polls)...We will redraw our strategy keeping this factor in mind.”