UP bypolls: BJP strategy fails, Samajwadi Party leads in early trends
The trends could be worrying for the BJP led by Amit Shah, who had led his party to its biggest victory winning 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats ever just three months ago.
In a major reversal in the crucial state of Uttar Pradesh, the ruling Samajwadi Party is leading in eight of the 11 Assembly seats that went to the bypolls last week.
The trends could be worrying for the BJP led by Amit Shah, who had led his party to its biggest victory winning 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats ever just three months ago.
The 11 seats that voted last week were won by the BJP and its ally in the 2012 Assembly polls. Despite the historic verdict in the Lok Sabha polls, the trends in the bypolls underline the failure of the party's strategy.
The BJP in UP relied heavily on a massive communal polarisation as reflected in its decision to make its firebrand leader Yogi Adityanath the face of its campaign in the September 13 bypolls.
Hindu groups affiliated to the BJP had launched the controversial campaign against what they called love jihad, especially in western UP, which has witnessed a series of communal violence in the last year.