There is going to be a tough competition for all the parties in UP.

Those who believe that the ruling party is dependent only on religion, are wrong. Official figures show that a total of 43 lakh poor people have been given houses in UP so far. About 15 crores are getting 5 kg additional food grains per month per unit. It also claims to provide 450,000 full time jobs and 350,000 contractual jobs. About 250,000 people have also been given employment under the One District One Product Scheme. Under the Saubhagya scheme, 167 lakh households have been given free electricity connections as well as free gas connections to 14.1 million households. The state government claims that the outstanding 1.5 trillion has been paid to sugarcane farmers including dues from the previous government. Is this enough?

In a huge state like UP, there has to be a mistake somewhere, no matter which party or leader is in power. One cannot ignore issues like the terror of stray animals, which sometimes eat up the entire crop, inflation, unemployment, etc. The opposition has left no stone unturned to prove the employment figures given by the government to be empty. Disgruntled and opposition leaders of BJP are saying that the government is anti-Brahmin to some extent. Some government officials were also accused of ignoring elected representatives because they belonged to the chief minister’s caste. Yogi Adityanath worked very hard and there was no allegation of corruption on him, but the problem did not stop here. Swami Prasad Maurya, Dara Singh Chauhan, Dharam Singh Saini and 11 MLAs resigned and tried to prove that the government was anti-Dalit and anti-backward. BJP spokespersons were dubbed defectors and opportunists, but it cannot be denied that the same leaders were used by the saffron party to win elections five years ago.

First the peasant movement and now this wholesale defection has changed the form of the political stream itself. Akhilesh Yadav is trying hard to bring the most backward caste with him. They already have the confidence of Muslims and Yadavs. The only thing needed now to overcome the present situation is the support of a large section of the most backward class. It is also worth noting here that Akhilesh Yadav has done all this on his own. Earlier his father and both uncles used to play the role of mentor and strategist. In this election, he has emerged as the undisputed ‘Supremo’ of his party. He has also learned the art of headline management. So BJP ministers and MLAs were asked to resign one by one. Because of this, despite the ban on rallies, he remained in rhetoric for the day. However, is this enough for him to win the election?

This question cannot be answered yet. The Bahujan Samaj Party and its leader Mayawati seem to be calm, but the party has already distributed more than 70% of its tickets. The number of these people who win will also play a big role in the formation of the next government. Similarly, in the first list of 125 people released by Congress, 50 are women. These include the mother of the Unnao rape victim and Anganwadi worker of Shahjahanpur. This experiment is certainly better than religion and caste equations, but perhaps the party leaders themselves do not believe in it. This is the reason that so far four out of seven Congress MLAs have switched sides. It should not be mistaken to assume that the saffron party has become so weak due to defection that it is unable to form the government. Yogi’s work Behind the party is Narendra Modi, the country’s most popular leader, a well-organized organization and ample resources, but uncertainty remains. The party will have to work hard to keep its clan together.

Poet Jigar Moradabadi once said love (Dear): There is a river of fire and have to drown (It’s a river of fire and you have to drown). Politicians may have to go through such difficult experiences in this election.

Shashi Shekhar is the editor-in-chief, India. Views expressed are personal.