WINNER TAKES ALL

Adityanath has not just defeated the opposition, but also silenced every challenger within the BJP

- PUJA AWASTHI

Some five hours into the counting of votes, a bulldozer was stationed outside the BJP office in Lucknow. The ‘Bulldozer Baba’ jibe that Akhilesh Yadav had made against Yogi Adityanath was turned into a symbol of victory. BJP supporters whose faces were smeared with orange gulal (dry colour) danced to the chants of Jo Ram ko laye hain, hum unko layenge (We will bring in those who have brought Ram). Elsewhere, the song UP ke bachcha bachcha ki farmaish mein Yogi ji (Yogi the choice of all of UP’s children) played.

At the Samajwadi Party office, stray supporters milled around. Party president Yadav drove into the office in a car with black tinted windows. There were no waves to party workers. The gates were shut on the media.

Sudhir Panwar, an SP leader from Shamli in western Uttar Pradesh, said, “It is the liquidation of the Bahujan Samaj Party which has helped the BJP the most.” However, in the outgoing assembly, there are only two BSP members from western Uttar Pradesh, after defections and expulsions.

Panwar’s other explanation is more plausible. He said the SP alliance had failed to attract the non-Jatav vote which is of a sizeable number in the west. “The gap between the landed, socio-economically dominant castes (the Jats) and the dalits is too large to bridge. They are not comfortable being with the SP but are attracted to the BJP because of its direct benefit transfer schemes,” he said.