Yogi Adityanath set to create history in Uttar Pradesh
The counting of votes for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2022 is underway and state Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath is all set to create history as the official trends showed the ruling BJP has already crossed the halfway mark. If Adityanath wins and becomes the chief minister, he will be the first to return to power after completing a five-year term.
Why does this story matter?
While CMs have been elected more than once—including Sampurnanand, Chandra Bhanu Gupta, and Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna—none of them completed the five-year tenure. In the history of Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath would be the first CM under whose leadership a party is returning to power after a full term. The BJP's performance is expected to have a bearing on the next general elections in 2024.
Current trends in UP
At the time of writing, the BJP is leading in 247 seats, while the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP is leading in 111 seats, as per official trends posted on the ECI website. Two allies of the SP—the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party—are leading in 10 and three seats, respectively. The BSP and Congress are leading in five and three seats, respectively.
This is Adityanath's first assembly election
Yogi Adityanath—a five-time parliamentarian—contested the state assembly elections for the first time this year from his home turf, Gorakhpur (Urban). In 2017, he had become a Legislative Council member after becoming the chief minister. He represented the Gorakhpur Lok Sabha seat from 1998 till he became the CM. Notably, the BJP has kept hold of the Gorakhpur (Urban) seat for nearly two decades.
UP voters approve Modi-Yogi's double-engine government
The early trends have shown that the people of UP have put their faith in the duo of CM Yogi Adityanath and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The numbers also put a stamp of approval on the "double-engine government" of PM Modi and CM Adityanath. Meanwhile, people have completely rejected the M-Y ("Muslim-Yadav") factor of the Samajwadi Party.
BJP had won 325 seats in 2017
Assembly elections in UP were held in seven phases from February 10 to March 7. It was a four-corner fight among the ruling BJP, Opposition Samajwadi Party, Congress, and the Bahujan Samaj Party. In 2017, the BJP had won 325 of the 403 assembly seats.
