Yogi Adityanath, the first Uttar Pradesh chief Minister to retain power after completing a full 5 year term, is expected to be sworn in sometime early next week. Today we look at the Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party’s failure to dislodge the BJP despite the SP garnering its best ever vote share of 32%.
Data from the analysis of the results shows that while the BJP consolidated its upper caste base, the party saw an increase of 4% vote share among other OBCs. OBCs comprise an estimated 43-45% of the population in Uttar Pradesh. There was little doubt that non-Yadav backward caste voters would be key to who wins these elections.
So how did the BJP retain support of its backward caste voters? This has happened despite upper castes continuing to find disproportionate representation in the legislature and cornering key portfolios in the BJP govt.
Has the BJPs reinforcing of the Hindu political identity helped its cause with backward caste voters. Have the Mandal parties been effectively marginalised?