Entire BJP leadership and PM Narendra Modi were banking on the performance in terms of increase in number of seats from 62 plus two from alliance partner Apna Dal out of total 80 seats in Lok Sabha from the state.. The loss of 29 seats is attributed to anti-incumbency factor against Modi government as well as Yogi government. The vote share of BJP came down to 49.2 per cent in 2024 from 59.1 in 2019.

The campaigning by Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav on one hand Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav on the other including joint rallies and road shows mobilised public in favour of INDIA bloc candidates.

The strategy of Akhilesh Yadav to promote his PDA (backwards, Dalit and minorities) also helped in mobilising voters for INDIA bloc. The ticket distribution to Samajwadi Party while adhering to PDA formula also mobilised different castes in favour of candidates.

The strategy of Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav to appeal to dalit community to vote for India bloc to save Constitution also helped mobilising voters for India bloc candidates. Rahul Gandhi made it a point to show the copy of the Constitution to dalit and backward voters and explained that BJP would change it if voted to power.

As a result there was a great erosion of vote share of Bahujan Samaj Party which contested the elections without joining any group. The vote share of BSP came down to nine percent from 19 per cent in 2019 Lok Sabha polls. This time BSP could not win a single seat..

It would be worth mentioning here that BSP had increased its tally from nil to 10 when it contested elections in alliance with Samajwadi Party in 2019.This time BSP national president Mayawati was under tremendous pressure to keep away from Congress alliance. So much so when his nephew Akash Anand who was number two in the party was removed from his post when he launched attack on BJP at a political rally at Sitapur. He was not allowed to address any rally after this episode.

Samajwadi Party national President Akhilesh Yadav who is Leader of the Opposition in UP emerged as a great leader who was instrumental in increasing his party's tally from five seats won in last Lok Sabha polls to 38 in 2024. Now Samajwadi Party is the third biggest party in Lok Sabha after BJP and Congress. This time the vote share of Samajwadi jumped to 33.6 per cent from 18.1 per cent in 2019.

It would be worth mentioning here that Samajwadi Party had won 39 seats from UP in 2004 which was the best performance of the party under the leadership of Mulayam Singh Yadav. The victory in 44 Lok Sabha seats by INDIA bloc in 2024 is also being viewed as people's mandate against the performance of double engine governments of Modi at the centre and Yogi in the state.

The impact of the failure of BJP in UP to retain the seats won in 2019 would result in blame game and pressure for change in the state. But with erosion in the authority of central leadership in view of poor performance, it would be difficult to remove Yogi Adityanath who is the face of Hindutva.

But what could be more embarrassing for BJP leadership than the defeat of candidate Lalloo Singh by Awadesh Prasad of Samajwadi Party in Ayodhya where Ram Temple became the centre of attraction for all over the world.. BJP fought the election on Hindutva issue with the hype created around newly-built Ram Temple.

Significantly seven union ministers including Sanjiv Baliyan, Mahendra Nath Pandey, SmritiIrani, Kaushal Kishore, Bhanu Pratap Singh, Ajay Mishra Teni and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti lost the elections from UP.

On the hand Rahul Gandhi registered impressive victory from Rae Bareli while his close associate Kishori Lal Sharma defeated Union Minister Smriti Irani in Amethi. Congress also won Sultanpur where Mrs Maneka Gandhi was defeated. Congress also increased its tally from one to six this time. The vote share of Congress also grew from 6.4 per cent in last Lok Sabha polls to 9.5 percent this time.

This election also witnessed end of road for Mrs Maneka Gandhi and her son Varun who was denied BJP ticket from Pilibhit this time. Varun was very critical of certain policies of the double engine governments of BJP at the centre as well as in state. This election also witnessed the emergence of a powerful dalit leader in western UP Chandrashekhar Ravan who got elected from Nagina Lok Sabha seat from his own Azad Samaj Party.

BJP ally RLD also won two seats of Baghpat and Bijnor while another ally Apna Dal could retain only one seat when party president and union minister Anupriya Patel won from Mirzapur. Another candidate from Robertsganj lost this time.

The election results have boosted the moral of opposition parties especially Samajwadi Party which would now prepare to dethrone BJP and capture power in 2027.No doubt the victory in six Lok Sabha seats will help Congress to revive the party at grass root and prepare for better performance in next assembly polls. The power to Delhi comes through Uttar Pradesh. This has been proved right again in 2024 as the INDIA bloc by getting majority of 80 seats has stopped BJP from getting majority on its own.

With the massive erosion in vote share Mayawati will have to think whether to run the party or not. Already the opposition parties and political analysts term BSP as B team of BJP. (IPA Service)