While the party could not form a majority, it delivered its best performance in terms of vote share at 32%, which, combined with the votes of its allies, went to over 36%, which was a substantial share. The alliance won 125 seats in all including SP’s 111 seats.
“I thank the public of UP for increasing our seats by two and a half times and our vote share by one and a half times. We have seen that the BJP’s seats can be brought down and this decline will continue. Most of the deception (created by the BJP) has been removed and whatever remains will be removed in the days ahead,” he said, adding that they would continue to struggle for public welfare.
The party will soon hold a seat-wise analysis across the state where local leaders and functionaries’ feedback will be sought to create a roadmap for the future, a senior leader told ET. At the same time, the performance of BSP, which cornered of 13% vote share and victory in all but one seat stands like an eyesore.
Keshav Dev Maurya, chief of SP ally Mahan Dal, said: “The main reason behind SP’s defeat was the uncharacteristically dismal performance of the BSP and shifting of its own votes to the BJP as the public had voted overwhelmingly for the SP.”
A senior SP leader told ET: “There are about 66 seats that we have lost by a margin of 1,000 votes or less and about 125 seats there the margin was in the range of 3,000-4,000. Had the BSP performed well for its own self we would have easily won about 240 seats.” In 233 seats, BSP has got more votes than the victory margin. There were 137 seats which SP and its allies lost where the BSP tried to make it a triangular contest. Similarly BJP and allies lost 91 seats because of votes polled by the BSP on those seats.
- All
- UP
- Punjab
- Uttarakhand
- Goa
- Manipur
The sense within the party is that the SP was better placed to gain from a slip in BSP’s Dalit and most backward caste support as most strong BSP leaders who had quit over the last couple of years had joined the SP.
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