It was the last evening of the passing February. We were sitting with Yogi Adityanath laughing at the Gorakshanath Dham Peeth. The stormy elections of Uttar Pradesh were over 70 per cent, but he was not in the mood for election-discussion. Why? Four weeks ago he had appeared in Yuddh-Pudra in Lucknow. Why is he smiling so much on the evening of February 27? Is this a victory currency?
I even asked this question that arose in my mind. His reply with a laugh was- ‘Shashiji, we will win more seats than the people expected. I have worked continuously, and I understand the spirit of my state very much. By the end of the afternoon of March 10, his words have been proved right. The BJP alliance has moved towards forming the government with a two-thirds majority. After 37 years, no party has been successful in regaining power in the country’s largest state.
This choice was not easy for him. No matter how much work you do for five years, something remains missing. His opponents felt that during the second wave of Corona, the dead bodies flowing in the rivers and buried on their banks were like canker seeping into the mind of the voter. They will repay it.
Not only this, inflation, unemployment and free animals trampling the fields seemed to be enough to give an issue to the opposition. A rebellion of three ministers and about a dozen legislators from his own party could have proved fatal.
However, the lingering question still persisted whether that much is enough to defeat the BJP?
The reason for this was that in the last seven years, the strategists of the saffron party had made a lot of interference among the Dalits along with the ultra-backward. They could have broken up, but they would go somewhere unilaterally, the probability of that was zero. Not only this, even those who had political squabbles with Yogi in the matter of law and order also used to shy away from criticizing him. He influences a large group of voters not only with his work, but also with his Chola.
Was this enough to reach the magic figure of two-thirds majority?
All this might not have worked so well if Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself had not taken charge of Uttar Pradesh. You remember day and night from the inauguration of Kashi Vishwanath Dham till the ‘road-show’ there. The magic of this glorious victory will go on unraveling. The campaign was meticulously crafted by the Prime Minister’s team. He held 32 public election rallies and addressed people through 12 virtual meetings, but behind the scenes, a large team was working. Amit Shah, J.P. Nadda, Dharmendra Pradhan and Anurag Thakur had a keen eye everywhere.
This is not the only secret to the permanence of Narendra Modi’s ‘craze’. During Corona, the food grains that reached the people without discrimination, so that people do not die of hunger, coined a phrase that ‘we will not do salt bharaami from Modi’. For the last seven years, toilets, Prime Minister’s house, cooking gas and other facilities were provided to the people by the central government, free ration increased their effect manifold. This led to the emergence of a new ‘vote bank’.
That is why Modi has been successful in breaking the chains of caste in Uttar Pradesh in two Lok Sabha and assembly elections held since 2014. This is the point where the hope arises that just as the shackles of caste are broken, similarly the chains of religion in the matter of voting will become an anecdote of the past, if not today or tomorrow.
There were yogis to support Modi in Uttar Pradesh, but in Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur there was a lack of such strong leaders. Despite the Chief Minister’s defeat in Uttarakhand, the credit for two-thirds majority goes to the ‘Modi magic’. BJP is also going to form government in Goa and Manipur.
Same was the problem of Akhilesh Yadav. The Bharatiya Janata Party had the face, resources, support of workers and allied organizations. On the contrary, he was alone, yet he did not give up. He created such a mix of minorities, ultra-backward and Jats, which surprised the leaders of the saffron party in the initial phase. On his shoulders was the burden of some work done by his superiors, which was likely to cause harm. He tried his best to give the message that now I am pressure-free. Not only this, instead of getting caught in the maze of nationalism and Hindutva of BJP, he emphasized on workers, farmers, working women and students. From the crowd that gathered in the meetings of Akhilesh Yadav, his fans understood that the words of ‘Bhaiyya’ are touching the hearts of the people. In a country of spectacle-loving Indians, mere crowds cannot guarantee victory.
It is necessary to discuss Mayawati here. As the BJP has risen from 2014 till now, Mayawati has also fallen. Till now she managed to keep her vote bank between 20 to 25 per cent. This time there was a decline in it and she has been reduced to just one seat. This did not happen without reason. A young Jatav from Agra told me that she has reached there with our votes, but gives tickets only to the rich. We have no future in his party. Mayawati can take lessons if she wants, but now it is probably too late.
Now about Priyanka Gandhi. The organization of the party is shabby and resources are limited. Despite this, she struggled with the slogan ‘I am a girl, I can fight’. The decision was not strategically wrong. During a survey by CSDS and ‘Hindustan’, it has been found that during the last four elections, the percentage of rural women has increased by about 15 percent as compared to urban women. Women are now the fate of the rulers, but the Congress could not understand that there is a difference between a discussion and an election-victory. The plight of the Congress in the entire country is proof of this.
This conversation would be meaningless without the Aam Aadmi Party’s thumping victory in Punjab. Arvind Kejriwal, who came from officer to politics, has proved that he is not a political comet, but a permanent constellation. After BJP and Congress, Aam Aadmi Party has also joined the club of ruling parties which rule more than one state. The party has also succeeded in opening an account with two seats in Goa. The journey of this ten year old party is mesmerizing.