Modi hopes to break 2014 and 2019 records under Yogi’s leadership
The prime minister hoped of an unexpected victory for the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections attributing it to CM Yogi's commitment to good governance and development.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday conceded that the Samajwadi Party-BSP alliance and overconfidence led to BJP defeat in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats.
In his first reaction to the BJP’s rout by the Samajwadi Party, Adityanath said the result will be reviewed threadbare by the party.
“Other than overconfidence, the last-minute coming together of the arch rivals SP and BSP scuttled the BJP’s chances,” he said.
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While extending his good wishes to the winning candidates, the 45-year-old said they were unable to understand the “rajnaitik saudebaazi” between the SP and BSP.
“Now that they are a winning combination, the BJP will chalk out a strategy to thwart the march of the people who are out to block the development ushered in by the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state.”
State BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey attributed the loss to the low polling percentage.
“A detailed analysis will be done and we will plug in our loopholes and ensure a better showing in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.”
Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya, who held the Phulpur LS seat earlier, said the BJP failed to foresee that the BSP voter base would shift en bloc to the SP.
SP’s Praveen Kumar Nishad wrested the Gorakhpur seat by defeating BJP’s Upendra Dutt Shukla by over 21,000 votes.
In Phulpur, SP’s candidate Nagendra Singh Patel was elected to the Lok Sabha, defeating his nearest BJP opponent by 59,613 votes, according to Election Commission.
Gorakhpur is significant for the BJP as it is the stronghold of the Chief Minister, who represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Adityanath, the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor, Yogi Avaidyanath.
Phulpur, once represented by the country’s first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election when Maurya won the seat.
(With agency inputs)
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