As the most highly anticipated electoral battle in India’s largest and most populous state, Uttar Pradesh (UP) is underway, the former lieutenant governor of Delhi, Najeeb Jung claims that he is convinced that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will be defeated in the the elections.
In an interview with Karan Thapar on The Wire, Najeeb Jung, who has also been the vice-chancellor of the Jamia Millia Islamia University, made astounding claims that the BJP will be losing the UP elections and the Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party will form a clear majority.
As for the reason for his belief, he stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi not being the face of the electoral campaign. He further said that Modi is larger than life figure in the cow belt, and not making him the face of the electoral campaign has been a major tactical mistake and a tactical error.
The farmer’s protest too will have an impact on the electorate, particularly in western UP, Jung added. He said that after the incident on January 26, farmers were called traitors, terrorists, khalistanis, etc., and that offended and agitated many farmers. “There is an atmosphere of disbelief,” he remarked.
Furthermore, the former lieutenant governor of Delhi claimed that the issue of stray cows in UP is also another reason for the hopelessness and despair in BJP. The government failed to build enough cow shelters after banning cow slaughter.
Najeeb Jung stated that the issue of unemployment, which has doubled in the last two years is also a major reason for BJP’s downfall in UP. He added that the inept handling of the COVID-19 pandemic by Yogi Adityanath and the trauma during the saga is something that people have not forgotten.
he further said that polarization, which has been the main trump card of the BJPto swing voters in its favour, is not working this time in the north Indian state. He acknowledged that it might work marginally but not enough to save BJP.
He further stated that the Muslim vote share in UP is majorly going to SP and that Owaisi has become an irrelevant face in the state.
The elections to the 403 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are being held in seven phases and votes will be counted on March 10. Polling for the first and second phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls was held on February 10 and February 14 respectively.
You can watch the full video here:
Follow on Twitter | Posted by Usama Hazari | 
