This is what Yogi Adityanath says about 2019 elections and the present setback

A lesson well learned- that is what the opposition has to say the ruling party BJP on the by-polls. But what about the 2019 elections?

In the recently concluded Uttar Pradesh by-polls, CM Yogi Adityanath had faced a setback in his own bastion

Maintaining that the results were a lesson to be learned by the ruling party, the firebrand leader forecast a brilliant showing for the saffron outfit in next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

“I think this has been a lesson to the BJP and the party will do very well in Uttar Pradesh come the 2019 general election,” said Adityanath during an exclusive interaction with a news channel.

The saffron party was embarrassed by its failure in Yogi Adithaynath’s bastion, while also failing to break the jinx of repeated losses in Parliamentary by-elections this year. 

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Gorakhpur, the bastion of the chief minister, and Phulpur, earlier held by deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya, fell to the combined onslaught of former arch-rivals SP and BSP.

Speaking at the “Renewal of Hope: Making UP ‘Uttam Pradesh'” event hosted by Times of India (TOI), the UP CM did not spare the brickbats and pointed out where his party had gone wrong ahead of the by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur. Admitting that the defeat was unforeseen, Adityanath blamed overconfidence for the disappointing outcome.

“I remember telling party workers: ‘elections are elections, don’t take them lightly. Elections are like exams, instead of being overconfident, a person should check the groundwork and review their preparation,” he said.

Things went amiss due to failure to gauge the implications of the electoral understanding between the SP and BSP, he explained.

“Workers and voters become careless when they feel victory is assured. It also lowers the voter turn-out,” Adityanath added.

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Taking a dig at the SP-BSP, the chief minister wondered why the leaders of these parties had not brought up the issue of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) this time, when earlier, they would stridently oppose its use during polls, due to alleged tampering.

“These parties used to question the credibility of EVMs, now that the result is in their favor, they’re silent,” he quipped. 

Adityanath went on to ridicule the previous SP and BSP dispensations for the lack of development in Uttar Pradesh and said the people had punished them for their misrule and corruption by voting for the BJP in the 2017 assembly election.

“The voter is very aware. The politics of communalism and dynasticism was responsible for the state lagging behind in terms of growth and development.

“When we (BJP) came to power, over 1 lakh km of roads were full of potholes. They (previous government) had no plan when it came to infrastructure development, the state of law and order was abysmal. Only four zilas had electricity, others did not,” the CM responded to a question on how the BJP regime had turned things around in UP.

“The first stage of our work in the state was to remove potholes from the roads. We dealt with crime and corruption with zero tolerance. No one is a VIP in a democracy, everybody is equal. All districts must get electricity equally,” he said.