Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav
New Delhi: Political turmoil continues in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly by-elections. Today is the last day of nominations. These by-elections are considered a semi-final before the assembly elections. In these elections, which will be held in 9 assembly seats, the Bharatiya Janata Party has fielded 8 of its candidates and has given up one seat to its ally RLD. BJP, SP and BSP have finalized the list of candidates a day before the nomination.
While the BJP has fielded candidates for 8 out of 9 seats, it has given up 1 seat (Meerapur) to its ally RLD. Samajwadi Party has presented its candidates for all 9 seats. On the other hand, Mayawati’s BSP has also fielded its candidates for the nine seats. At the same time, the Congress has ceded power even before this semi-final. Due to the failure to share seats with the Samajwadi Party, the Congress decided not to field candidates.
On one hand, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s reputation is at stake in this semi-final match, while on the other hand, Akhilesh’s PDA also has to be the acid test. After Lok Sabha, Akhilesh’s PDA will be executed and it will also be known whether Mayawati’s elephant will rise again or not. Of the 9 seats in Uttar Pradesh where the contest is taking place, the BJP had 5 seats and Akhilesh had 4 seats.
Yogi takes the by-elections seriously
In fact, there was panic in the party after the BJP suffered a setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. Some senior leaders had raised questions about the functioning of the government. Now Adityanath’s reputation is at stake in the by-elections. Immediately after the Lok Sabha elections, Yogi Adityanath swung into action and began preparations for the by-elections. The Chief Minister, seeing the by-elections as an opportunity to restore the party’s reputation and send a message to his opponents, began taking the initiative himself. And he tried to convey the message that his charisma is not over yet.
CM Yogi visited all the constituencies and held meetings with local party leaders and workers to strategize the campaign. He addressed several public meetings in all these assembly constituencies. Additionally, the state government organized “job fairs” to attract youth and announced the launch of various programs for farmers and women.
organized party workers
Of the nine seats in the by-elections, Karhal, Kundarki, Sisamau and Katehari are considered the strongholds of the Samajwadi Party. In an aggressive four-month campaign, Yogi organized party workers to break the SP’s stronghold. He played an important role in formulating campaign strategy and selecting candidates. He also formed groups of three ministers, assigning each group a constituency and tasking them with laying the foundations of the campaign. He chaired high-level meetings of top leaders of the BJP state unit to give impetus to the election campaign. In a bid to win back its support base, the BJP, which is contesting eight of the nine seats, has decided to field four OBC candidates.
Akhilesh is confident PDA will work again
In contrast to Yogi’s campaign style, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav’s activities remained confined to an election war room located in the party office. Focusing on micro-management of the campaign, he has held meetings with party leaders and officials from nine Assembly constituencies to fine-tune the strategy as he is confident that the PDA’s proven formula (backwards or backwards, Dalit and minority) They will work again.
This PDA formula paved the way for the Indian Alliance’s massive victory in the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. The Samajwadi Party emerged as the largest party in Uttar Pradesh and won 37 seats in the Lok Sabha. Its ally, the Congress, won six seats, taking the number of Indian Alliance MPs in Uttar Pradesh to 43 against the NDA’s 36. Akhilesh Yadav is strengthening booth committees, resolving disputes between local leaders, directing party leaders to review voter lists and strengthening social media presence in all constituencies. He is directing party leaders to hold meetings in those villages and localities, which are considered the BJP’s strong base.
