The stupendous poll showing by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) election has come as a booster shot for the party, which is locked in a triangular fight in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.
While, Shiv Sena emerged as the single largest party cornering 84 seats, BJP came a close second winning 82 seats and more than doubling its 2012 BMC poll tally of 31. Before the BMC poll, the Shiv Sena had offered its junior ally BJP only 60 seats to contest.
The victory coming on the heels of back-to-back wins for BJP in other local bodies polls held in Odisha and Chandigarh, is being celebrated by the party as a positive referendum on demonetisation decision.
Under demonetisation, high value currency notes bearing 1,000 and 500 denomination were scrapped in November 2016 and the new series of Rs 500 notes were printed. The decision had caused severe cash crunch in the country for several weeks, while the remonetisation exercise is still underway.
In the context of UP poll, the BJP is now enthusiastic about the prospect of the BMC victory brushing on the state election, wherein it is fending off stiff challenge posed by the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance.
The opposition parties have vociferously slamming the party for demonetisation and the consequent hardships on the people. In their public meetings, the opposition leaders have been exhorting the electorate to vote against the BJP for demonetisation.
However, the good showings by BJP in the local bodies poll post-demonetisation merits an urgent reframing of the respective poll strategies of the opposition outfits.
Meanwhile, in his election rally at Gonda district on Friday, BJP mascot and Prime Minister Narendra Modi referred to the improved tally of the party in all the recent local bodies polls including BMC to indicate the purported mass support to the demonetisation plan.
Last evening, UP BJP President Keshav Prasad Maurya, while addressing newspersons at the party office, had claimed BMC results would further boost the party's morale in UP polls even as he reiterated the party was on course to winning 300+ seats.
Meanwhile, the fifth phase polling in UP would be held on February 27 in 52 assembly constituencies across 11 districts in the eastern region of the state.