Election results: UP ko yeh saath pasand nahi aaya

Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav’s joint road shows packaged under the slogan ‘UP ko ye saath pasand hai’ turned out to be dud as voters gave the alliance a thumbs down.

Poll strategist Prashant Kishor had coined a campaign slogan ‘UP ko ye saath pasand hai (UP likes this alliance)’ for joint rallies of Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

File photo of Akhilesh Yadav and Rahul Gandhi during an election campaign in Allahabad .(PTI)

The slogan was based on a song in Salman Khan’s blockbuster movie Sultan.

The two leaders together held 10 programmes -- six public meetings and four road shows -- in different parts of the state, covering 40 assembly segments in five Lok Sabha constituencies of Lucknow, Agra, Meerut, Jhansi, Kanpur Gorakhpur, Allahabad and Varanasi.

Out of those, the BJP won in 34 seats (85%) while the Samajwadi Party bagged four (10%) and the Congress managed just one (2.5%). The Apna Dal (Soneylal) also won one seat.

As the results were declared, it became clear that the voters of UP had given a thumbs down to this campaign slogan and the SP-Congress alliance as well.

Out of the total 403 seats, the BJP won 312, SP bagged 47 and the Congress secured 7.