Lucknow, Oct. 30 -- The BJP's electoral machinery appeared firmly positioned to dominate the Legislative Council elections in Varanasi. Nine ministers from eastern Uttar Pradesh were assigned responsibilities in the region, seven of the eight Assembly seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's parliamentary constituency are held by the BJP, and the party has a strong organisational network. Despite these advantages, the Samajwadi Party emerged victorious in both the teacher and graduate constituencies.

The twin defeats have raised questions about the BJP's organisational effectiveness and its ability to convert political influence into electoral support, particularly among educated voters.

The results are significant as the BJP had deployed considerable political resources to secure victory. Ministers, legislators and party functionaries were actively involved in campaigning, but their efforts failed to translate into electoral gains.

The Yogi Adityanath government has several ministers representing eastern Uttar Pradesh, including Arvind Kumar Sharma, Ravindra Jaiswal, Hansraj Vishwakarma, Anil Rajbhar and Dayashankar Mishra 'Dayalu'. Others include Sanjeev Gaur from Sonbhadra, Girish Chandra Yadav from Jaunpur and Dayashankar Singh from Ballia. However, their combined political presence could not ensure the party's success among teachers and graduates.

The setback has also brought the party's candidate selection under scrutiny. In the teacher constituency, BJP candidate Pramod Kumar Mishra secured fewer votes than he had received as an Independent in the previous election, raising questions about the impact of the party's organisational backing.

Political observers believe the BJP may have depended excessively on its organisational strength and the influence of ministers instead of establishing a direct connection with voters.

The defeats also come against the backdrop of changing political equations in Varanasi since the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Although Modi retained the seat for a third consecutive term, his victory margin declined considerably to 1,52,513 votes. He secured 6,12,970 votes against 4,60,457 polled by Congress candidate Ajay Rai.

In 2019, Modi had defeated Samajwadi Party candidate Shalini Yadav by 4,79,505 votes. His vote share also fell from 63.62 per cent to 54.24 per cent in 2024, with the SP-Congress alliance consolidating opposition votes behind Rai.

Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.