‘Kairana was polarisation vote, not negative vote for BJP or UP govt’

Sidharth Nath Singh is health minister of Uttar Pradesh and a key troubleshooter for the Yogi Adityanath government. The Allahabad West legislator, who held key positions in the BJP’S team of national office bearers, spoke to

Kumar Uttam on what the Kairana verdict means to the party and how it will deal with a united Opposition in 2019.

How does the BJP look at the Kairana result?

It is polarisation vote, and not a negative vote against the BJP or the Uttar Pradesh government. The BJP candidate polled more than 4.36 lakh votes and it shows that the BJP remains popular among voters.

What went wrong for the BJP in Kairana?

As I said it was a polarisation vote. The outcome of the election will be reviewed by concerned people, at an appropriate time. We are ready for future challenges.

Is successive electoral defeats in bypolls in UP, which your party swept in 2014 and 2017, a reflection on the performance of the governments at the centre or in the state?

Absolutely not. There is no governance deficit.

BJP rivals are coming together and it has led to your party’s defeat in 3 bypolls. How will the BJP deal with this challenge in 2019 Lok Sabha election?

Every election is a challenge. We do not take any electoral challenge lightly. But ticket distribution among the possible allies of the antibjp front in Uttar Pradesh will be a challenge. They not only fought 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly elections separately, but fought each other bitterly. There are many claimants for a seat from every player of the anti-bjp front. There will be a huge resentment among the cadre of those parties when tickets are shared.