After winning the Azamgarh and Rampur Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh bypolls recently, the BJP has swung into action and is now preparing for winning all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the most populous state as per its ‘Mission 2024’.
To win all the Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BJP has already started working at a fast pace on several fronts simultaneously.
The primary focus of the party is on the 16 Lok Sabha seats it lost in 2019 elections in Uttar Pradesh as well as the seats from where the BJP MPs have been winning elections continuously, especially those where the same party leader has won both the previous Lok Sabha elections.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi continues to remain the party’s most popular leader ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, but the popularity of MPs at the local level and their connect with the masses also plays an important role in determining the election results.
The BJP has cancelled tickets of its elected leaders on a large-scale to thwart anti-incumbency against them in different states many times in the past and the saffron party has benefited electorally.
Therefore, MPs who have won consecutive elections from the same Lok Sabha seats on BJP tickets, especially those who have won in 2014 and 2019 elections from the same constituencies, will have to prove their credibility once again to retain their seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha election as well. This means that to win the Lok Sabha ticket from the party for the third time in a row, the sitting MPs will have to prove their popularity in their respective constituencies.
Top BJP leaders are constantly visiting different areas of Uttar Pradesh and taking feedback from the people about the work done by the party MPs in their respective constituencies.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brijesh Pathak, newly-appointed state party President Bhupendra Chaudhary and Uttar Pradesh BJP General Secretary (Organisation) Dharampal are frequently visiting different districts of the state to review the preparations for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections and taking feedback from the people about the performance and popularity of party MPs.
According to party sources, the BJP will also conduct a survey on the selection of candidates at various levels, and on the basis of the report of all these surveys, it will be decided from which seat which leader should be fielded, whose seat should be vacated and whose ticket should be cancelled.
The NDA had to face defeat in 16 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 in Uttar Pradesh. It won 62 seats and its ally Apna Dal got two seats. In the same election, the BJP had won Congress’ bastion Amethi but could not defeat the Congress interim President Sonia Gandhi from Rae Bareli constituency.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) was still able to save its strongholds like Mainpuri, Azamgarh and Rampur in 2019 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh (although the BJP has won both Azamgarh and Rampur in the recent by-elections), while Mayawati’s BSP also managed to win 10 Lok Sabha seats by stitching regional caste equations and taking advantage of the alliance with the SP.
But in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BJP wants to win all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state by wresting the stronghold areas of Congress leader Sonia Gandhi and SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav, including all opposition leaders.
Therefore, the BJP is making special preparations for winning these 16 Lok Sabha seats in 2024. The saffron party has identified weak electoral booths in all these 16 seats. Most of these booths are Yadav, Muslim and Jatav-dominated so the party will prepare booth-wise strategy on these seats.
The BJP has already sent its team of Ministers at the ground level to corner the veteran opposition leaders in these 16 Lok Sabha seats. Various Ministers, which are part of the Modi government, are constantly visiting these Lok Sabha constituencies. The responsibility of wresting Sonia Gandhi’s parliamentary constituency Rae Bareli has been entrusted to Union Minister Narendra Singh Tomar and that of Mulayam Singh Yadav’s parliamentary constituency Mainpuri to Union Minister Jitendra Singh.
Both the Union Ministers have been given additional responsibility for many other Lok Sabha seats as well. Union ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Annapurna Devi have also been given the charge of the three Lok Sabha seats each lost in 2019 in Uttar Pradesh.
