The mahagathbandhan failed to stop the BJP juggernaut in the key state of Uttar Pradesh in the Lok Sabha Elections. The BJP has won in 7 seats, and is leading in 53 out of the 80 seats in the state, with the BSP-SP-RLD combine winning one and leading in 15. The Congress is leading in only one seat.
Friends-turned-foes Mayawati’s BSP and Akhilesh Yadav’s SP came together again for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections after they emerged victorious in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-elections last year. Hoping that caste arithmetic would work in their favour, the alliance, which was successful in 2018, had hoped to consolidate the Muslim, OBC and the SC votes these general elections.
The alliance also roped in Ajit Singh’s RLD in March this year. As per the seat sharing arrangement, the Samajwadi Party contested from 37 seats in UP, Bahujan Samaj Party contested in 38, while RLD contested from 3 seats. The mahagathbandhan chose not to field a candidate from Amethi and Rae Bareli, the constituencies traditionally held by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi. While Sonia Gandhi is heading for a win in Rae Bareilly, Rahul Gandhi is trailing BJP’s Smriti Irani by 44,082 votes.
The BJP allied with Apna Dal, which contested from two seats. It has won in one and is leading in another. The BJP’s campaign, which was led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was banking on upper caste Hindu votes. To further counter the mahagathbandhan’s campaign, the BJP had also tried to rope in the most backward caste votes, with PM Modi highlighting his MBC background during poll speeches.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha Elections, the BJP won 71 seats, Apna Dal won 2, while the Samajwadi Party won 5 and the Congress 2. The BSP and the RLD drew a blank.