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Lok Sabha Election Results 2024: 5 factors that didn’t work for PM Modi and BJP
- Election Results 2024: The biggest surprise among states for the BJP is coming from Uttar Pradesh, where the INDIA bloc has so far won 40 of the 80 seats. In 2019, the BJP had won 62 seats from Uttar Pradesh.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) failed to reach a majority mark in the Lok Sabha Elections 2024 as the saffron party ended up winning 240 seats in the 543-member house. The INDIA bloc has won 234 seats, belying exit poll numbers that predicted less than 200 seats for the alliance of opposition parties formed to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led National Democratic Alliance.
In 2019, the BJP won 303 seats on its own while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) got 353 seats. Here are five key factors that seemingly didn’t work for the PM Modi-led BJP this time.
The UP shocker
The biggest surprise among states for the BJP comes from Uttar Pradesh, where the INDIA bloc has won 43 of the 80 seats, reducing the BJP to 33 seats in the bellwether state. In 2019, the BJP had won 62 seats from Uttar Pradesh.
Analysts said one reason for the BJP's underwhelming performance in UP was the difference in campaign styles. The BJP campaign focused more on holding big rallies, while the SP and Congress tried to reach out to local communities.
The BJP relied on big rallies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, and Union Home Minister Amit Shah. In contrast, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who camped in Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, didn’t hold many big rallies. Instead, she focused on daily meetings with smaller groups of people.
Many political analysts said that the BJP should not have repeated its MPs in UP, unlike in Delhi, where it changed only one sitting MP.
Ram Mandir campaign
The construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya was a key campaign issue for the BJP in the run-up to the 2024 general elections. However, the issue did not resonate with voters. In fact, the BJP lost the Faizabad seat, where Ayodhya, the city of Ram Mandir, is situated.
Among neighbouring seats, the BJP is ahead in two of the seven seats bordering Faizabad – Gonda and Kaiserganj. In the remaining five seats, the Congress was leading in Amethi and Barabanki while the SP was ahead in three others - Sultanpur, Ambednagar and Basti. The Congress and SP are alliance partners in India bloc.
The Agnipath Scheme
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been vocally criticising the Agnipath scheme for recruiting soldiers. It seems the scheme didn’t work for the BJP as is evident from the dent in its performance in Rajasthan and Haryana, the two states which send a large number of youths to defence and paramilitary forces.
In Haryana, where the BJP won all 10 seats in 2019, the saffron party led in five seats while the Congress was ahead in five other seats. Similarly, in Rajasthan, where the BJP+ had won all 25 seats, it led in only 14 seats this time. The Congress was ahead in eight seats.
The splits in Maharashtra
Another setback is in Maharashtra. The BJP is leading in 12 seats, while the Congress is leading in 11 seats. In 2019, the BJP won 23 of the seats in Maharashtra, while the Congress won only one seat there. The Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) is leading in 10 seats. Thackeray's Shiv Sena is an INDIA bloc partner. The Eknath Shinde faction of Shiv Sena, a BJP ally, leads in six seats.
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The split of the Shiv Sena in 2022 and the NCP in 2023 hasn’t gone down well with the voters. There was also a delay in announcing NDA candidates from Maharashtra.
The Maratha agitation for reservations in education and government jobs also impacted the ruling Mahayuti alliance in Maharashtra.
The turncoats
Many Congress turncoats that switched to the BJP are not doing well in elections. For example, Ravneet Bittu, the Congress-turned-BJP leader, is trailing in Punjab. Preneet Kaur, who switched from the Congress to the BJP just before Lok Sabha Elections, is also trailing.
In Haryana, Ashok Tanwar, who joined the BJP just before the elections, is trailing from the Sirsa seat.
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Business NewsElectionsLok Sabha Election Results 2024: 5 factors that didn’t work for PM Modi and BJP
First Published:4 Jun 2024, 05:36 PM IST
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