LUCKNOW: The NDA's performance in the Bihar polls has once again trained the political spotlight on BJP’s saffron mascot and UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, whose campaigning skills worked in favour of the BJP-JD(U) combine.
Results show that out of the 18 seats where Yogi campaigned over three phases, the NDA candidates won or were leading in 12, a strike rate of approximately 67%. Yogi campaigned in Bakhtiyarpur, Bisfi, Katihar, Kewati, Sitamarhi, Raxaul, Valmikinagar, Jhanjharpur, Lalganj, Daraundha, Jamui, Karakat, Garia Kothi, Siwan, Arwal, Paliganj, Terari and Ramgarh. Out of them, but for Daraundha, Karakat, Arwal, Paliganj, Tarari and Ramgarh, the NDA candidates were set to win the rest.
Results showed that of the six seats which BJP and its allies could not win, four were going to CPI (ML) (Liberation), which was part of the RJD-led Mahagathbandhan, while RJD was poised to win Bakhtiyarpur and Ramgarh. In Ramgarh, though, a nail-biting contest was still on, with the BJP candidate a close third.
BJP sources said the results on the seats where Yogi campaigned has further cemented his status as a star campaigner with the ability to swing votes. “He is not only an able administrator but has also been one of the fiercest leaders who had the ability to sway voters irrespective of caste lines,” said UP BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh. BJP sources said Yogi is expected to be roped in by the party in the forthcoming assembly elections in West Bengal before the high-stakes UP assembly elections.
Political observers pointed out how Yogi was able to connect with the people of Bihar by calling the poll-bound state “Sita ka Maika (Sita’s hometown)”, and how BJP kept its poll promise of initiating the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.
All through his campaign in Bihar, Yogi sharpened his attack on the grand alliance CM face Tejashwi Yadav, accusing him of making a hollow poll promise of providing 10 lakh government jobs if voted to power. “He was successful in reminding people about the 15-year misrule of RJD between 1990 and 2005, including its embroilment in the fodder scam,” a senior BJP leader said. Yogi had also invoked the CAA at the peak of his campaign in what was seen as a move aimed to swing the electoral mood in favour of the BJP-led NDA.