BJP's new young set of leaders gives it hope and opportunity in Uttar Pradesh

LUCKNOW: Rising literally from the ashes in UP since the last assembly elections in 2012 when it had got only 15% votes and 47 seats in a 403-member Vidhan Sabha, the BJP has a young, fresh team of MLAs who can deliver PM Modi’s promise of a New India.

The BJP and its allies have won 325 seats in UP and this increase of 227 from the last polls means that most of the MLAs are new. The party had denied a ticket to three sitting MLAs — Vimla Batham (Noida), Shyamdeo Roy Chaudhary (Varanasi South) and Ravindra Bhadana (Meerut South). Among the sitting MLAs who got the ticket but lost despite the wave are Laxmikant Bajpai (Meerut), Seema Dwivedi (Mungra Badshahpur), Salil Vishnoi (Aryanagar) and Raghunandan Bhadouria (Kanpur Cantt). The party has also lost some of the seats it won in 2012 but gained new territories. Party leaders claim that the average age of its MLAs is 45 years.

Moreover, of the 41 women who have won this time, 35 are from the BJP. The party had also given tickets to OBCs in almost half of the non-reserved seats and this has ensured that virtually all sections, except the Muslim and the Jatavs, have found representation in the BJP legislature party.

The BJP has won the UP elections in the name of Modi. Most of the candidates are not known faces or established public figures. This poses both a challenge and an opportunity for the party. While those not having much experience of administration or the workings of a Vidhan Sabha will have to make all efforts to rise to the occasion, the energy and enthusiasm in the young, new team can be an asset. Those BJP MLAs who excel in their work may even stand a chance of getting a ticket in the next LS polls.