Explained: Akhilesh Triumphs in UP With Strategic Picks; Tejashwi Falls Short in Bihar

While the incumbent BJP-led NDA maintained its supremacy in Bihar in the Lok Sabha polls by winning 30 seats out of 40, compared to the INDIA bloc’s 9 seats, it was beaten by the Opposition alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the most crucial heartland state.

Here’s what Akhilesh Yadav did:

Confident in retaining its core Muslim-Yadav (M-Y) vote base and aiming to gain support from non-Yadav OBCs, who had largely favored the BJP, the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) nominated only five candidates from the Yadav community, all from the family of party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav. In the 2019 elections, the SP had fielded 10 Yadav candidates out of 37. This time, the SP also nominated just four Muslim candidates. Yadav introduced a new slogan to broaden his support base from “M-Y” (Muslim-Yadav) to “PDA,” which stands for Pichde (backward classes or OBCs), Dalits, and Alpasankhyak (minorities).

As a result, the lion’s share of SP tickets went to non-Yadav OBCs – 27 candidates – Dalits – 15 candidates in Scheduled Caste (SC)-reserved seats and one in a general constituency – and 11 upper-caste candidates (including four Brahmins, two Thakurs, two Vaishyas, and one Khatri).

Here’s what happened in Bihar:

While Tejashwi Yadav also tried to extend his party’s support beyond M-Y votes, he clearly could not succeed, as evidenced by the poll results. The RJD and the Congress in Bihar contested 23 and nine seats respectively. While the RJD won four seats, the Congress got three seats, and two seats were bagged by the CPI(ML)L.

Drawing a comparison between Akhilesh and Tejashwi, poll analyst Sheetal P Singh said, “While Akhilesh gave tickets to more non-Yadav and non-Muslim candidates, giving various caste groups good representation, Tejashwi gave tickets to a good number of Kushwahas (non-Yadav OBCs). In comparison, Akhilesh also gave tickets to Kurmi, Nishad, and some EBC (Extremely Backward Classes) faces. While Tejashwi looked for caste leaders like Mukesh Sahani (Vikassheel Insaan Party chief), Akhilesh directly tried to give representation to such castes beyond his traditional vote base.”