A Gandhi, a non-Gandhi and Ayodhya: How Uttar Pradesh became House of Cards for BJP?

Maneka Gandhi, Smriti Irani, and Faizabad- the land of Ayodhya. The too big to fail, failed BJP like anything in Uttar Pradesh.

Maneka Gandhi, a high-profile leader with eight years as an MP in her bag lost Sultanpur. In Amethi, a non-Gandhi, Kishori Lal Sharma defeated Smriti Irani, who in 2019 defeated Rahul Gandhi in this Congress bastion.
The biggest blow came from Faizabad, the city of the newly constructed Ram temple, which sent the BJP candidate packing despite a vociferous campaign.

If numbers are to be considered anti-incumbency significantly hit the saffron party's results in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in UP, leading to the defeat of 27 out of its 49 sitting MPs. The BJP had re-nominated 54 candidates who had run in 2019, but 31 of them were unable to secure a win this time.

Of these candidates, 33 MPs were in the race for their third term or more, and 20 of them lost their seats including Union ministers such as Smriti Irani from Amethi and Ajay Mishra Teni from Kheri, along with Kaushal Kishore from Mohanlalganj, Mahendra Nath Pandey from Chandauli, Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti from Fatehpur, Bhanu Pratap Singh Verma from Jalaun, and Sanjeev Balyan from Muzaffarnagar.

High-profile leaders like eight-term MP Maneka Gandhi (Sultanpur) and Rajveer Singh (Etah), son of ex-CM Kalyan Singh, also faced defeat. Other significant losses included Lallu Singh (Faizabad) and Subrat Pathak (Kannauj).

One political analyst told The Times of India, "This clearly shows that people were unhappy with their work, yet BJP brass showed misplaced faith in them."

Even though Prime Minister Narenda Modi made a hat-trick from Varanasi, his victory margin came down to 1.52 lakh from 4.79 lakh in 2019.

Some BJP MPs contesting for the third or more time did secure their seats. This list includes Mahesh Sharma from GB Nagar, Bhola Singh from Bulandshahr, Rajnath Singh from Lucknow, and Hema Malini from Mathura. In addition, 10 of the 21 other BJP candidates, including several newcomers, were victorious.

Though the margin of Rajnath Singh's victory in Lucknow too narrowed to about 1.5 lakh from 3.47 lakh in 2019.

Political observers remarked that the BJP's decision to re-nominate 46 of 51 candidates in the first list was surprising, especially considering the local discontent against several of them. "The belief that Modi-Yogi factor will carry them through proved to be misguided," one observer commented.

Likewise, 19 candidates, including 16 sitting MPs, contested their second consecutive LS polls. Ten of these, including seven sitting MPs, lost their seats. Notable among them were Pradeep Kumar (Kairana), Ram Shankar Katheria (Etawah), Sangam Lal Gupta (Pratapgarh), Pravin Nishad (Sant Kabir Nagar), and RK Singh Patel.

The UP googly BJP couldn't sense
From Western Uttar Pradesh to Purvanchal, the BJP experienced a significant decline in the Lok Sabha polls, securing only 33 seats compared to the 62 they won in the 2019 general election.

In 2019, the BJP had achieved a landslide victory in Uttar Pradesh, winning 62 out of 80 seats. However, this time they saw a drastic reduction, capturing only 33 seats.

In Western UP, which includes Saharanpur, Kairana, Muzaffarnagar, Bijnor, Nagina, Amroha, Meerut, Baghpat, Ghaziabad, and Gautam Buddha Nagar, the BJP won four seats, down from six in 2019. Their ally, RLD, secured two seats. SP won two seats, while Congress and Azad Samaj Party each won one.

In Awadh, comprising 20 seats such as Amethi, Raebareli, and Lucknow, the BJP managed to win only nine seats. SP won seven, and Congress secured four.

One of the most significant setbacks occurred in Faizabad, home to the newly constructed Ram temple, where the BJP candidate lost despite a strong campaign focused on the temple.

In the Rohilkhand region, which includes Badaun and Bulandshahr among its 11 seats, the BJP won only four seats, down from nine in the previous election. SP captured seven seats here.

Bundelkhand, known as UP's most underdeveloped and driest region, delivered a severe blow to the BJP. Out of the five seats in this region—Jalaun, Jhansi, Hamirpur, Banda, and Fatehpur—the BJP won only Jhansi, a stark contrast to their clean sweep in 2019.

In the Purvanchal region, which includes key constituencies like Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, and Mirzapur, the BJP won 10 seats, down from 18 previously. SP secured 14 seats, while Apna Dal and Congress won one seat each in this region.