Battleground Uttar Pradesh - SP's 2012 clean sweep was not so clean after all

LUCKNOW: The Samajwadi Party's sweep in the 2012 assembly elections was not evenly distributed across the state.
While it nearly swept central UP, comprising the Yadav belt, by winning 76 of 98 seats, the SP had to play a second fiddle to the BSP in Bundelkhand, considered a stronghold of Mayawati.

In western UP, the battle was evenly poised with the two regional parties sharing the honour with 29 (SP) and 28 (BSP) seats, respectively.

In eastern UP, the SP did fairly well. Backed by the sizeable population of Yadavs and Kurmis in the region, SP won 85 seats.

With Mayawati's social engineering, the party won 79 out of 150 seats from Poorvanchal in 2007. This time, she was hoping for an encore, especially as she fielded her then-trusted aide Swami Prasad Maurya from Padrauana.

Although Maurya won, he couldn't salvage BSP from decimation. From 79, BSP's tally came down to 25 seats.

Central UP was the decider. The bicycle left others miles behind in the Awadh region.

Although SP has always done well here--the region comprises the Yadav family's bastions of Etawah and Mainpuri--the 2012 performance beat even its own expectations. It won 76 out of the 98 seats with 34.4% vote share.

The parched land of Bundelkhand was the only region where the SP had to face a setback.

The BJP tried a coup by roping in former Madhya roping in former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati as a candidate from Mahoba. She could barely save her own seat. The BSP retained the top position.

The SP made a scintillating performance in Rohilkhand by winning 29 out of the 52 seats. The BSP couldn't do well in the region and won just 11 seats. This region had a large number of Muslim dominated constituencies where SP did fairly well.

Western UP saw a fierce fight between the SP and the BSP. Traditionally , it has been a stronghold of the BSP with pockets of influence for the BJP and the RLD.

But, the SP came up with another splendid show, winning 29 of the 84 seats. The BSP won 28 seats and the BJP 12. The results showed an overwhelming support of Muslim voters to the SP.