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UP election result: Focus on growth, OBCs takes BJP back to power
UP election result: The focus on the delivery of social welfare schemes, assertion of improved law and order, and the Hindutva card helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overcome issues such as anti-incumbency to casteism and retain power in Uttar Pradesh.
The focus on the delivery of social welfare schemes, assertion of improved law and order, and the Hindutva card helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) overcome issues such as anti-incumbency to casteism and retain power in Uttar Pradesh.
Murmurs of jaativaad (casteism) that had become audible halfway into chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s tenure reached a crescendo ahead of the election, setting off concerns within the BJP. In 2017, the party swept to power in the state riding a coalition of disparate castes, including OBCs that it collectively counted as the Hindu vote bank.
The exit of three OBC ministers – Dara Singh Chauhan, Swami Prasad Maurya and Dharam Singh Saini – on the eve of the 2022 elections threatened the party’s social-engineering formula.
But a high-decibel campaign led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Yogi Adityanath, a focus on beneficiaries of welfare schemes, especially women, and the ability to counter defections with poaching helped the party overcome the challenge posed by the Samajwadi Party, which, with its allies registered its best ever showing in the state in terms of vote share. But it wasn’t enough, proving the limits of strategies built exclusively on identities when faced with counters built around social engineering and welfare.
Welfare beneficiaries
The BJP nursed a new constituency this election - labarthis or beneficiaries. Having received aid in the form of money or material, this class of voters transcended the binaries of caste and faith.
“There was a profound impact of the central schemes such as the Awas Yojna that gives homes to the homeless, toilets that were constructed under the Swachh Bharat Mission, the e-Shramik cards and the insurances scheme and the Kisan Nidhi that put money directly into the bank accounts of people. These benefits were buttressed by the free ration that was given by the state government,” a senior state BJP leader said on condition of anonymity.
Clear instructions were also sent to workers to reiterate the reach of the schemes and how a gas connection under the Ujwala Yojana or treatment up to ₹5 lakh under the Ayushman Bharat have liberated women from daily anxieties.
The Centre’s initiatives such as linking rivers and providing water connections in parched regions of Bundelkhand, or providing cooking gas, worked as an instant draw for women, said Vinod Sonkar, BJP lawmaker from Kaushambi district.
“The support from women gave the BJP an edge. In rural areas particularly, women who benefited from free ration, cooking gas and improved law and order, rallied behind the party. There was awareness among them about the benefits of the schemes, and even if men showed a tendency to vote along caste lines, the women stepped out to vote for a party that helped them get rid of everyday stress,” Sonkar said.
The implementation and delivery of central schemes did enough to offset deficiencies in critical sectors such as health and employment. While there was anger against the government for failing to provide jobs and tame inflation, and meet the requirements for essentials such as oxygen during the second wave of Covid-19 pandemic, there was also an overall acknowledgement of the “free ration” that came in handy when the jobs dried up and the economy slowed.
Inclusion of OBCs
The party also ensured its credentials as an inclusive political outfit remained intact.
Similar to what it did in 2017, the BJP carefully picked representatives from backward communities such as Nonia, Koeri, Khatik, Gadaria and Rajbhar to illustrate its politics of inclusivity. Leaders from these castes have been assiduously wooed since 2014 to consolidate support from their respective communities.
“Unlike the Samajwadi Party (SP) or the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) that have vote banks carved out of specific caste groups, the BJP over the years has made explicit efforts to emerge as a party of all castes. It is the only party that gave representation to the OBCs, who have been marginalised socially, economically and politically,” said a senior party leader in Delhi who asked not to be named.
Past experience showed that when parties were booted out of power, it was largely on account of the mobilization of caste groups. “In 2007 and 2012, the BSP and SP governments were ousted from power because of a critical mass rising against their policies. There was anger against the SP and the BSP for serving only their own communities, and a large number of people, who had earlier voted for them. but were not their traditional vote bank, showed their resentment through the ballot,” the leader added.
Investment in a wider caste coalition ensured that the BJP, which had a vote share of about 15% in 2012, now secured over 43% of the votes (with its allies).
The exit of the OBC leaders was bad optics but did not alter the preference for the BJP on the ground, another leader said.
“It is not for the first time that a chief minister was accused of promoting his own caste. When Rajanth Singh was chief minister, there were complaints of Thakurwaad (rule of thakurs, an upper caste) too. The party leadership did not allow this to dominate the discourse. We reminded people of the corruption during the BSP rule and the soaring crime graph during the SP’s,” the leader added, asking not to be named.
Law and order
The repeated references to lawlessness and appeasement of minorities during the SP rule were the bedrock of the BJP’s election campaign. Consequently, communities such as the Brahmins, the Baniyas and the Jats set aside their misgivings against the BJP and voted for the party.
The fear of lawlessness also prevented the fracture within the OBC castes from deepening, even as the SP gave more tickets to OBCs other than Yadavs.
“This election is a stamp of approval on the performance of the chief minister, who under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, transformed the state and has ensured widespread changes and improvement in the law and order. And since this particular issue affects all castes and faiths, there has been such a resounding victory,” said Chandra Mohan, the party’s state secretary.
80 vs 20 remark
This is the first test at the hustings for the BJP after it fulfilled its long-pending demand of constructing a grand temple at Ayodhya. With the spotlight on development, the party ensured that ideological issues that keep its core constituency intact were not ignored. The constituency was particularly important given the SP’s mobilisation of the Yadav-Muslim vote bank that adds up to a 30% of the electorate.
While on one hand Prime Minister Narendra Modi pitched the redeveloped Kashi Vishwanath Corridor as an example of economic resurgence that would empower all communities, leaders such as deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya raised the war cry for constructing temples in Mathura and Varanasi.
Adityanath, too, claimed it would be an 80% vs 20% election. He later clarified that by 20%, he referred to those who always opposed the BJP despite the party’s pro-people policies.
