UP Elections 2022: The Lessons Of Loss

The BJP’s win has emboldened voices in their own parties against Akhilesh Yadav, Jayant Chaudhary and Priyanka Gandhi, signalling the urgency of thinking anew

- Prashant Srivastava

CHALLENGES

SAMAJWADI PARTY

The Akhilesh-centric party needs to develop a second rung of leaders with a greater role in chalking out political strategy and tactics

SP also has to find ways to break its image as a MuslimYadav party and reach out to other sections of society

Defeat is an absolute fact, it seems, and leaves no room for grace marks. Akhilesh Yadav may have given the fight of his life in the recent Uttar Pradesh assembly election, in no way humiliated by a loss that saw his Samajwadi Party (SP) notch up its highest vote share ever. But the combined Opposition did crumble, and it was not going to pass without comment. The performance by Akhilesh’s main ally, the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), was indeed underwhelming—for all the fire and brimstone from Jat quarters in the past two years, the community largely favoured the BJP. As for the Congress, even obituary writers are tiring by now. And so, the inevitable is happening. It’s the season for Cassandras—all parties are facing a flurry of criticism from within, from insiders who see no hope if the present patterns persist.