Farmers Movement Archive

'BJP to repeat 2017 feat in UP, despite defections, farm stir'

NEW DELHI: A day after releasing its first list of candidates for the UP elections, BJP has asserted that it will repeat its sweeping performance in west UP and its adjoining Braj regions by winning 83 of the 103 seats in the area that will be up for grabs. Top party sources told reporters that neither recent defections of some of the OBC ministers of the Yogi government and party MLAs nor the agitation against the farm laws will dent the party's performance in UP. "A few individual figures may have moved away from the party, but the communities they claim to represent are very much with BJP," said a senior party leader and added, "in fact, their main problem is that they are not ready to stomach a new crop of young and energetic leaders from BJP's own ranks and belonging to the same communities who have emerged in the past few years." He also said that the party rebels, who have quit, are spreading lies on the OBC quota as there are no pending issues related to the subject. The leader also maintained that the farm laws will have no bearing on BJP's poll prospects and the party will once again retain its dominance in the western districts of UP. The assertion is significant as, after Punjab and Haryana, western UP accounted for the largest contingent of farm law protesters on Delhi borders. Farm union leader Rakesh Tikait has openly vowed to "punish" BJP in polls in Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh. The BJP leader, however, said that it will have no bearing on the party's performance in the state. "Just like recent state polls in Uttar Pradesh like 2007, 2012, 2017, the state will give a decisive verdict with BJP winning more than 300 seats once again," the BJP leader said. He said BJP will win 83 of the 103 seats for which the party has announced its candidates so far, which will set the momentum to cross the 300-mark and repeat its 2017 performance. Asked about speculations about CM Yogi Adityanath's candidature from Ayodhya, the BJP leader said that Ayodhya is a key issue for the party and not the candidate.

The Times of India

2022-01-17

India