How did BJP lose 5 of 9 seats in Ayodhya, 9 of 12 seats in Varanasi?

The BJP’s performance in the politically-crucial state of Uttar Pradesh is going to be the subject of much talk in the coming days.

The party lost five of nine seats in Ayodhya including Faizabad constituency – the home of the Ram temple – as well as nine of 12 seats in Varanasi.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi defeated the Congress’ Ajay Rai in Varanasi – his third straight win from the constituency – it was his lowest margin of victory in the constituency.

The prime minister netted 674,664 votes, while Rai picked up 479,000 votes – a margin of 152,513 votes.

So, what went wrong for the BJP?

Let’s take a closer look:

What happened?

The BJP found its numbers in Uttar Pradesh greatly reduced.

The party, which won a massive 62 seats in the state in 2019, won just 33 seats this time.

The BJP was defeated in five of nine Lok Sabha constituencies in the Ayodhya region and in nine of 12 seats in Varanasi.

According to Indian Express, the BJP’s Maneka Gandhi lost to the Samajwadi Party’s Ram Bhual Nishad in Sultanpur.

The BJP’s Harish Dwivedi – a two-time MP – also lost the Basti Lok Sabha seat to the Samajwadi Party.

The BJP also lost Ambedkar Nagar and Shrawasti.

It had high hopes for the latter because its candidate here was Saket Mishra – the son of the Ram Temple construction committee chairman and former Modi aide Nripendra Misra.

Another huge defeat for the BJP was Smriti Irani in Amethi.

Irani, who made history by defeating Rahul Gandhi in Amethi in 2019, this time went down to Gandhi family loyalist Kishori Lal Sharma.

Sharma won 5,39,228 votes compared to Irani’s 3,72,032 votes – a margin of 1,67,196 votes.

Hindustan Times quoted political observers as saying the BJP did not get the Kamandal-Mandal factor right this time – which hurt it in Ambedkar Nagar and Barabanki.

In Ambedkar Nagar, BSP MP Ritesh Pandey was defeated by Lalji Verma of the Samajwadi Party.

Pandey won 4,07,712 votes and a vote share of 34.64 per cent, while Verma won 5,44,959 votes with a 46.3 per cent vote share.

The margin between the two candidates is 1,37,247 votes.

In Barabanki, Tanuj Punia, the son of Congress leader Panna Lal Punia, defeated the BJP’s Raj Rani Rawat.

Punia won 7,19,927 votes and a 55.78 per cent vote share, while Rawat got 5,04,223 votes with a 39.07 per cent vote share.

The margin of victory was a mammoth 2,15,704 votes.

“They want to replace Samvidhan [Constitution] with Manu ka vidhan [Manu’s laws],” a young Dalit woman in Barabanki told Scroll.

In Varanasi’s 12 Lok Sabha seats, the BJP won just three.

It was defeated in Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Chandauli, Robertsganj, Ghazipur, Ghosi, Lalganj, Azamgarh and Ballia.

Union minister Mahendra Nath Pandey, the two-time MP in Chandauli, went down to the Samajwadi Party candidate Bijendra Singh.

Though Prime Minister Narendra Modi prevailed in Varanasi, he did so by 1.5 lakh votes – the smallest margin of victory in the constituency.

Experts said the Samajwadi Party and the Congress worked well together in the state.

“The Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party did clever politics, reducing the number of Yadav nominations to five. Instead, it contested the election on the broad-based plank of PDA – pichhda, Dalit, alpasankhyak, or backward, Dalit and religious minorities,” a piece in Scroll noted.

BJP loses Ayodhya constituency

Few would have predicted that the BJP would lose in Faizabad district – where the Ram Mandir has been built.

But that’s exactly what happened with Samajwadi Party candidate Awadhesh Prasad defeating the BJP’s Lallu Singh – who previously won the seat in 2019 and 2014.

Prasad got 554,289 votes compared to Singh’s 499,722 votes – a gap of 54,567 votes.

“Losing Faizabad seat is a big setback,” a senior BJP official told Indian Express.

Kalki Ram, president, Rama Dal Trust, told Hindustan Times, “The BJP candidate lost due to overconfidence. His ‘Jan Sampark Abhiyan’ was weak. On the contrary, the SP’s campaign was very strong. He thought that he would win in PM Modi’s name. He should have gone to the doors of people. The reason for the loss is the candidate himself. Estimated 35,000 votes which used to be cast were not cast this time.”

News18 quoted political observers as saying that the land acquisition for the road leading up to the Ram temple hurt the BJP in Faizabad.

This is because of the alleged lack of compensation given to those whose shops and homes were razed to make way for the road.

“Be it widening of roads leading to the Ram Temple or the construction of related projects, scores of people whose families have been residing here for more than 100 years were forced to hand over their properties (shops, homes) to the district administration under the land acquisition drive. This was an issue the BJP failed to recognise but the Opposition addressed,” political observer Ram Naresh Tiwari told News18.

 Experts also said local issues played their part.

“Barring the area in and around Ram Temple, Ayodhya has been grappling with lack of basic amenities. Potholed roads, poor electric supply, improper sanitation, frequent traffic jams… the issues are endless. Despite being a two-time MP, Lallu Singh virtually did nothing when it came to local development. Both times, in 2014 and 2019, he fought elections in the name of PM Modi,” Tiwari added.

“BJP left no stone unturned to seek votes in the name of Ram temple. During polls, the party made sure all the prominent leaders associated with it, governors from BJP-ruled states and other dignitaries kept visiting Ram temple, for their political gains. But the local people realised they were being misled,” Awadhesh told The Times of India.

Sharad Kapoor, director of Shan-e-Awadh hotel, added: “Barricades, police bandobast, traffic diversions, VIP culture, afsarshahi (bureaucratic dominance) and inadequate compensation for property owners are some issues which have been affecting local residents and traders in the city. In the rural pockets, too, a sense of insecurity has gripped villagers.”

News18 also credited the decision of the Samajwadi Party, which draws support from Muslims and Yadavs, to of field Dalit leader Prasad for drawing votes from Dalits.

It also cited the Bahujan Samaj Party fielding Brahmin candidate Sachidanand Pandey as taking votes away from the BJP.

But others placed the blame squarely at the feet of Singh who in April urged the public to vote for the BJP as the Centre would “need a two-thirds majority in Parliament to make a new Constitution”.

Singh purportedly said that a government which has a 272-seat majority “cannot amend the Constitution” and that an “over two-thirds majority” is needed to do so.

The remarks seemingly did not play well with voters in Faizabad – which comprises 22 per cent OBCs, 21 per cent Dalit and 19 per cent Muslims.

Singh attempted to clean up his remarks.

“I was simply saying that to make our country great, we have to ensure that PM Modi comes to power again and that we may need to make constitutional amendments for which we have to ensure that we get over two-thirds majority… Modi ji himself has said that not even Ambedkar can change the Constitution even if he comes back, what more is needed?” Singh said.

An upset Singh was earlier quoted as saying by Indian Express, “Hum aapka samman nahi bacha paaye (we could not save your respect).

“There could have been some fault in me. You worked very hard and showed full dedication towards the party. My only request is that it may happen that if you go out in the area, opposition leaders and workers may comment on us. But will have to show tolerance and avoid any unwarranted things. You win some, you lose some in a battlefield,” Singh added.

“I will introspect about myself. There could have been a reason that we lost this election. Despite Modi-Yogi leadership, this has happened, so there must be some major flaw in me. Go to your home now. Do not lose your heart.”

Prasad, on the other hand, told the media, “I will get those people rehabilitated, whose houses or shops were demolished by the BJP government. I will work to keep Lord Ram’s dignity intact.”

With inputs from agencies