The elections for the 17th Lok Sabha in Uttar Pradesh witnessed an unprecedented campaigning in which a strong band of Bharatiya Janata Party leaders outclassed the group of scattered opposition parties.
The BJP had a galaxy of leaders, including Union ministers, state ministers and party leaders, besides Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath,
to campaign for its candidates while in contrast, the main contender, the Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance relied heavily on Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.
Congress also mainly depended upon its new political entrant, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, for electioneering in UP though party president Rahul Gandhi held meetings and roadshows at 20 places in the state.
Sources in the BJP said in Lucknow on Saturday that while the party campaign was spearheaded by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who addressed 29 rallies and roadshows in UP, while BJP chief Amit Shah addressed 28 poll meetings and held two roadshows in the state. Besides, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressed 137 meetings and roadshows during the two-month campaign.
Though there was demand for about 50 meetings of Prime Minister Modi, only 29 rallies, including a road show in his own Varanasi constituency, could materialise.
Several Union ministers also joined the campaign in UP but they focused on Varanasi and Gorakhpur.
Despite the 72-hour gag on Yogi Adityanath by the Election Commission for his ‘Ali’ and ‘Bajrangbali’ comment, he and BJP state chief Mahendra Nath Pandey and two Deputy Chief Ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Dinesh Sharma held over 477 meetings covering all the 403 Assembly constituencies of the state.
In comparison, the Congress banked on Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who addressed 40 poll meetings and participated in a similar number of roadshows covering 55 Lok Sabha constituencies. Party president Rahul Gandhi also addressed 20 rallies in the state.
Of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, Congress fielded candidates from 70 along with its alliance partners.
Congress fielded Acharya Pramod Krishnam in Lucknow but no top Congress leader campaigned for him. Priyanka, however, campaigned vigorously in Rae Bareli and Amethi for several days for mother Sonia Gandhi and brother Rahul Gandhi respectively.
The least campaigning was by SP-BSP-RLD alliance as both Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati addressed 21 joint rallies against a scheduled 18 — one in every division.
Besides, Akhilesh addressed 50 rallies for his party candidates while Mayawati addressed 25 rallies, including several in other states.
Other leaders of SP and BSP also campaigned in this elections, but they were mostly whistle-stop meetings.
