Modi-Yogi Bhakts Aplenty, But Jobs?

Besides Muslims, Dalits are the only vocal section that has turned against the BJP in UP

- Pragya Singh

In 2014, the BJP drove into Uttar Pradesh, riding on two wheels—one was the promise of development, and the other was assertion of Hindutva. Four years on, amidst widespread chatter about early and combined national and state polls, Hindutva continues to hold voters in thrall, but the wheel of development is coming unstuck. This is apparent from travels through Saharanpur and Muzaffarnagar, two districts in the western part of the electorally vital state where voter sentiment is verging on disenchantment. This is especially true of the various “backward” communities whom the BJP had stitched together as a “non-Yadav” electoral grouping in the run-up to the previous general election.

The road to Lucknow is said to run through western UP, which set the tone for BJP victories in the 2014 polls, leading to the formation of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre, as well as the 2016 assembly polls, which made Yogi Adityanath the CM. The NDA’s score of 73 of 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP and an equally impressive assembly win owed much to this primarily agrarian belt, which has only a smattering of industry and a powerful trading community. In these parts, sections of the OBCs and many Dalits had joined the BJP’s dominant-caste votebank, decisively tilting the scales. Now, these allian­ces are facing the test of promises fulfilled or broken, though it is still hard to tell which of the two—Hindutva or development—will win the race.