Just a day after the assembly poll results for five states were declared on 10 March, Prime Minister Narendra Modi held a Vijay Yatra in Ahmedabad, Gujarat—the next political battleground of 2022.
The BJP has been in power Gujarat since 1995 and the party hopes to hold on to the state banking on Modi’s Gujarati chora image and capitalise on Gujarati asmita of having a prime minister from their state.
Bhartiya Janata Party—riding on Hindutva, innovative social engineering, and welfarism has won a record mandate in Uttar Pradesh. Yogi Adityanath’s upcoming swearing-in on 25 March has given rise to a debate whether UP can become another Gujarat for the party. After all, the land of Ram lalla is one of the first states where the BJP formed a government.
UP was one of the first three states where party formed the government in 1991. While party has grown in other Hindi heartland states like Bihar, MP and Chhattisgarh, its success has been chequered in UP.
However, with the return of Yogi Adityanath, it needs to be examined how the BJP has built a formidable caste alliance and given it a tadka of laabharthis to now create a near unbeatable combination.