Deendayal Upadhyaya’s ideology of Antyodaya. Fourthly, while the opposition tried to steer the battle to the caste-based peripheries, particularly after some leaders quit BJP just before elections, the party did not fall into the trap and not only redefined post-mandal politics but also redetermined the extent to which caste will play a decisive role vis-à-vis ideology of BJP i. The opposition did not have the scope or bandwidth to set the narrative in battlefield. The direct attacks on opposition without mincing words by the CM was the most appealing as people saw in him a communicator who spoke his heart out, with no pretence or unnecessary jargon. While the opposition was grappling between Hindutva vs Hinduism, Nationalism vs Fundamentalism, BJP leaders packaged the thoughts in such a convenient manner that it was easy for every candidate to adhere to the local vs national (or even international debate post the Russian invasion of Ukraine) debate in a uniform and coherent manner. Thirdly, the real undercurrent of any election these days is the narrative and the messaging, which the BJP ensured was simple and straight. The saintly simplicity of CM and his iron-clad approach towards criminals and mafia was appreciated by voters. The bulldozer baba with his no-nonsense attitude ensured that the rowdy elements were cut to size and unlike in the past, there was no jungle raj.
Stemming from this virtue, his honesty in dealing with law and order and the perception in this regard in the mind of common voter, was absolute and unquestionable. Secondly, the personal integrity of the CM was picture perfect and even his harshest critics could not raise doubts. With 209 rallies across the state, the CM was relentless, persevering, passionate and campaigned in a style that explicitly said ‘ bring it on’ – we are ready for this fight. To start with, they made it clear to every party karyakarta that there was no room for ‘ work-from-home ’ or any space for vacationing in the middle of campaign. The double-engine sarkar with the Prime Minister at the centre and the chief minister in state set the tone for an intense electoral campaign. The charismatic sanyasi has created history which will change the politics of the state for the times to come. To buck anti-incumbency and return to power was by no means an easy task for BJP. Swami Prasad Maurya, Dharam Singh Saini and Dara Singh Chauhan, who were ministers in the previous BJP government, had quit the BJP just ahead of the Assembly polls and contested from the Opposition Samajwadi Party.(By Dr Rajeshwar Singh) With a population of around 24 crore, UP is not just the most populous state in India but is also the largest electoral division anywhere in the world. While many ministers lost in the polls, one who made it to the cabinet despite losing the poll is Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.įormer Ministers Mukut Bihari Verma and Swati Singh were not fielded by the BJP in the just-concluded Assembly polls. Mohsin Raza, who was the lone Muslim minister in the previous state government, was replaced by Danish Azad Ansari.Īmong the leaders who failed to get a ministerial berth this time were Jai Prakash Nishad, Ram Naresh Agnihotri, Ashutosh Tandon, Jai Pratap Singh, Neelkanth Tiwari, Ramapati Shastri and Mahendra Singh.
Ramapati Shastri, who held the charge of the social welfare minister and is a BJP MLA from Mankapur in Gonda district, too was left out. The name of Satish Mahana, who headed the industry department in the previous BJP government and was elected from Maharajpur in Kanpur district, was also missing from the list. He was the minister of Investment, MSME and Export in the previous BJP regime. Power minister in the previous BJP government, Shrikant Sharma, who won the polls from Mathura by a margin of over one lakh votes, was also dropped from the cabinet.Īnother casualty was Siddharth Nath Singh.
Over two dozen MLAs who were ministers in the previous government failed to bag a cabinet berth this time.ĭeputy chief minister in the previous Yogi regime, Dinesh Sharma, failed to retain his berth as he was replaced by his colleague Brajesh Pathak, another Brahmin face, who shifted to the BJP from BSP six years ago. However, the day also brought gloom for some prominent faces who were either dropped from the cabinet or were expected to make it to the final list but could not. Several prominent personalities including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the BJP’s entire top leadership, chief ministers of NDA-ruled states graced the occasion marking the beginning of another five-year term of the saffron party. Gorakhpur MLA Yogi Adityanath was sworn in as the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh for the second consecutive term yesterday amid much fanfare.