Loss in Uttar Pradesh's 'Jatland' triggers alarm bells in BJP

BJP leaders may have been rejoicing over their party's victory in Rampur, considered to be a bastion of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Azam Khan, but the defeat in Khatauli assembly seat in 'Jat' dominated western Uttar Pradesh, barely seven months after sweeping the region in the state assembly polls, has come as a shock for the saffron party.

The defeat in Khatauli at the hands of the SP-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance barely a year ahead of the next general elections could force the saffron party to go back to the drawing board and tweak its strategy to counter the resurgence of the alliance whose leaders claimed that the result of Khatauli would 'impact' the outcome of the next LS polls.

''The result of Khatauli will not be confined to one seat or one district... It will affect electoral politics of UP in the 2024 LS polls,'' remarked a senior RLD leader while speaking to DH here.

The SP-RLD alliance had roped in Bhim Army president and dalit leader Chandrashekhar alias Ravan before the by-poll and the latter had also extensively campaigned in dalit dominated villages in favour of the alliance nominee Madan Bhaiya.

The result showed that the strategy to weave a 'Jat-Muslim-Dalit' equation paid electoral dividends to the alliance. ''We plan to continue this alliance in the next general elections,'' the RLD leader declared.

What could compound the BJP woes was the fresh threat of agitation by the farmers over what they said failure of the centre and the state governments to fulfil the promises made to them when they had agreed to withdraw their over a year long agitation against the now scrapped farm laws earlier this year.

The leaders of Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU), which had spearheaded the farmers' agitation, welcomed the victory of the RLD nominee in Khatauli by-poll. Incidentally Khatauli was the native village of BKU leaders Rakesh Tikait and Naresh Tikait, who had publicly opposed the saffron party and extended support to the RLD in the state assembly poll.

State BJP leaders said that the defeat in Khatauli was 'unexpected'. ''We will certainly analyse the reasons which led to our defeat and form our strategy accordingly,'' UP BJP president Bhupendra Chaudhary, who hailed from the western UP region, said here on Friday.

In the March assembly polls in the state , the saffron party had not only managed to win 51 of the 76 seats in the 'Jat' dominated districts but it had swept Mathura and Agra districts besides scoring impressive wins in Muzaffarnagar, Meerut and in the strongholds of the RLD, a predominantly Jat outfit led by Jayant Chaudhary.