Omkar Dattatray The assembly elections to the five states are round the corner including the states of Uttar Pradesh and Punjab and the election fervor has gained momentum .The various political parties are busy in its arithmetic of the permutations and combinations as the elections are nearing and fall in the early months of 2022 and these state assembly elections are significant in the sense that these are considered semi finals for the general elections of 2024. Therefore there will be a keen contest between the political rivals in these elections. The UP election is a direct fight between BJP other political parties, in fact it is a fight between BJP versus others. The election battle will be between the BJP and SP, BSP, AAP, AIMIM and others. The various political parties are readying for the elections and are touring the nook and corner of the UP to influence the prospective voters .The poll bugle has been sounded and the elections of the state assembly will be held any time in early 2022 and the various political parties have begun the election rallies to impress the electorate and thus are the political parties jumping in the election fray. In UP it is the election battle of BJP versus others and the fact is that the BJP cannot be defeated so easily as the party has the mass fallowing and mass base in UP and there are chances that the party will bounce back to power after the elections. The fact is that the opposition parties are a divided house and thus they cannot fight the hegemony of the BJP which enjoys much popularity in UP and Yogi government has done a lot of public work and delivered goods its five year rule. The opposition is a divided lot and this is an advantage to the BJP in the elections. There will be a direct contest between the BJP and the opposition parties especially between the BJP and Samajwadi party and the various political parties are making inroads into the political sphere of UP. In fact it will be BJP versus SP and all others. It will thus be the fight between all powerful BJP and SP which is doing everything to dislodge the BJP in the elections. This time it will be election fight between the saffron party and the wearers of the red cap and the prime minister has said in a rally that the red cap wearers are dangerous for the people of UP and as such the people of the state should save themselves from the red Topi-wallas. Now the poll battle will be between the Yogi and Akhilesh Yadav as the latter has a good following in some pockets of UP and it is not so easy to fight the formidable BJP and for this all the big and small political formations have to jointly fight the elections against the BJP. Since the opposition unity is a farce and as such BJP is in an advantageous position and thus it is difficult to defeat the BJP and the dream of the opposition parties will not materialize in 2022 elections .The minority votes especially of the Muslims will also be divided and this also will benefit the BJP in terms of the vote share notwithstanding the cunningness and outbursts of the fire brand Owasi of AIMIM who is polarizing the atmosphere before the elections. Not only the AIMIM but all the political parties are polarizing the atmosphere before the elections. The elections in the state should be fought on the plank of good governance and on the plank of development but alas the political parties are raking emotive issues which are communal and sectarian and as such should not be raised. But alas all the political parties are raising the communal and emotive issues which are not related with the lives of the people and are thus vitiating the political atmosphere just before the elections. There is less anti incumbency to the ruling party as it has performed well during its rule of five years because its report card is up to mark and it has performed well and as such it is very difficult for the opposition parties to defeat the BJP. The BJP is putting forth the plank of good governance and the development before the electorate and is asking for votes on the basis of development and good governance and this is a welcome development and this should be encouraged. But the skyrocketing prices and the growing unemployment are the anti incumbency points and will definitely impact the mood of the voters if the opposition parties are able to exploit the issue of rising prices and growing unemployment. Since the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas, edible oils and pluses and vegetables are rising continuously and the government of the BJP at centre and the states are unable to control the rising prices and this is a negative point of the report card of the BJP and the party has to pay for its follies in this regard. The rising prices are directly related with the lives of the people and as such it will definitely impact the voters in the elections if the opposition parties are able to exploite the issue of rising prices but this is also a fact the BJP is a cadre based party and as such the party base is very strong in the UP and the losses on account of the rising prices and unemployment will be offset by the core constituency Of the BJP and the opposition will not be able to dent the image of the saffron party in the elections.BJP is able to sell its performance and policies and schemes to the people as its marketing strategy is very scientific and it have good impact on the BJP voters in the elections.BJP poll managers are adept in marketing its performance and its policies to the people of UP and hence the ruling party will be in a position to gain an upper hand in the elections .There will be a keen contest between the BJP and SP, BSP, AAP, AIMIM and other big and small political formations .All the political parties are strengthening their political fortunes and are touring the length and breadth of the state to impact and influence the prospective voters. Since the poll bugle has been sounded and now it is the turn of the political parties to seize the opportunity and do canvassing to impact their respective constituencies .At the moment it is premature to say anything with certainty so for as the elections in the state are concerned as the 2022 state assembly elections of UP are the semi final for the general elections of 2024 as the way to Delhi throne passes through UP and therefore the state elections are very significant. Therefore various political parties are giving much importance to the UP state elections and are trying to impact the voters through their canvassing and poll tours. In brief, it can be said that there are chances that the lotus will again bloom in UP in Assembly elections of 2022.
