The ruling BJP has an outsized majority in the Uttar Pradesh assembly, so why then is the state and, to a certain degree even New Delhi, waiting with bated breath for the byelections in 10 seats there? Well, the party’s dismal Lok Sabha results for one: its cave-in from 62 seats to 33 was like the hit to the solar plexus that nearly felled the whole body. The public spats that erupted within— between saffron stalk, root and sundry branches—have not ceased. As a consequence, Yogi Adityanath and his ‘bulldozer’ government look less than rock-solid for perhaps the first time. On the other hand, the opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) looks a lot more peppy after becoming the party with the most MPs from the state—37, with ally Congress snaffling six more.
Source Agencies
