On the basis of a pre-poll survey commissioned by the BJP ahead of next year’s Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the saffron party claims that it will win 110 to 135 seats in the state. The party has also zeroed in on corruption and price rise as two big election issues as indicated by people in the pre-poll survey.
The BJP appears quite undeterred by political pundits not finding the saffron party in the reckoning in UP and is counting on to cash in on “popular anger” against both ruling BSP in the state and UPA at the Centre. Sources said that the pre-poll survey was commissioned by BJP chief Nitin Gadkari to know where the party stood in UP.
“The survey indicates that the BJP could win seats in the range of 110-135. There are still about five months to go for the polls during which undecided voters need to be tapped. The survey has also indicated that the people ranked corruption and price rise as two big election issues apart from the local factors,” said a senior party functionary.
The BJP leaders reason on the basis of the findings of the survey that the upper caste voters have decisively moved away from the ruling BSP in the state.
“A realignment of castes will take place during UP polls. The BJP will stand to gain from negative swing of votes against the BSP and Congress,” added the BJP functionary.
The BJP is going into the UP polls under the leadership of senior leaders Rajnath Singh, Kalraj Mishra, Surya Pratap Shahi and Uma Bharti.
Interestingly three of these leaders hail from the upper caste, while Ms Bharti is being expected to bring in the Lodh votes into the kitty of the saffron party. Mr Singh and Mr Mishra are also criss-crossing the state through their respective yatras, which would culminate in Ayodhya.
If the BJP really manages to win more than 100 seats, it could disturb the permutation and combination in the 407-strong UP Assembly, with the saffron party maintaining that it would not have a post-poll alliance with any party.