BJP gears up for UP bypolls: Inside party's strategy
What's the story
The Bharatiya Janata Party is gearing up for a fierce fight in the upcoming by-elections for 10 vacant assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. The stage is set for a two-cornered contest between the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance, which includes the Samajwadi Party and Congress.
According to reports, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will personally supervise the by-elections in Ayodhya and Ambedkarnagar, while the Deputy Chief Ministers have been assigned specific regions.
Regional management
Deputy CMs, ministers assigned specific regions
Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak has been tasked with managing Kanpur and Mainpuri, while Adityanath's other deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya will oversee Prayagraj and Mirzapur.
UP BJP chief Bhupendra Chaudhary will handle Muzaffarnagar and Moradabad, with party leader Dharmpal looking after Aligarh and Ghaziabad.
The remaining 30 ministers in the government will be responsible for monitoring other constituencies throughout the state, according to the BJP's plan for the bypolls.
Strategy
BJP's strategy
According to Times Now, in a recent meeting chaired by CM Adityanath, the decision was made to bolster and energize the party organization from top to bottom for optimal results.
"It was decided that the CM, both deputy CMs, the BJP state president and the BJP state general secretary (organisation) will monitor two assembly segments each allotted to them," said a leader who attended the meeting.
Announcement awaited
ECI yet to announce bypoll dates
Notably, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has not yet disclosed the dates for the by-elections.
The vacancies were created after several MLAs, including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, left their assembly seats after they won the recently-concluded Lok Sabha polls.
Separately, SP MLA Irfan Solanki from Sisamau in Kanpur was disqualified due to a jail sentence related to a criminal case.
Past performance
2024 Lok Sabha election results
The BJP is pulling all stops to reverse its lacklusture performance in the Lok Sabha elections.
In the results declared on June 4, the INDIA bloc secured 43 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh—with the SP winning 37 seats and the Congress taking six.
The ruling BJP won 33 seats, while its ally the Rashtriya Lok Dal secured two and the Apna Dal (Sonelal) obtained one seat.
The Bahujan Samaj Party did not win any seats in this election.