Incidentally, during the last fortnight, till January 13, 19 BJP members jumped ship to join the SP-led front. According to data collected by the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), between 2016 and 2020, 182 MLAs from across the country joined the BJP while only 18 left the party. This indicates that the tide has now turned. It clearly implies that the BJP’s electoral prospects in Uttar Pradesh are anything but bright.UP CM Yogi Adityanath recently stated that the ensuing election was a fight between 80 per cent and 20 per cent (Muslims make up 20 per cent of the electorate in the state). He had obviously included the vast population of Dalits and non-Yadav OBCs in his calculations. But the situation has obviously changed drastically.RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and PM Narendra Modi were obviously counting on their Hindutva brand of politics to win the bellwether state. The extent of their reliance on this strategy could be gauged from the simple fact that Modi paid not one but two obeisance visits to Kashi Vishwanath. His visits reportedly cost around Rs 1500 crore. Prasad was distributed in 100 villages surrounding Kashi.Indeed, Modi has left no stones unturned to polarise voters and make Hindutva into a talking point across the state.But if the mood of the people is any indicator, it can safely be said that this time-tested strategy of the BJP is no longer a vote catcher for it.(IPA Service)Views are personal
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