There’s a popular line from the Bollywood movie ‘Youngistan’ that goes, “Abhi UP baki hai,” which means “UP is still left.” This pretty much sums up the political importance of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in India. If you want to win the national elections and rule from Delhi, you’ve got to win UP. For the last decade, the BJP has dominated this state, winning 71 seats in 2014 and 62 in 2019. But in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, they managed only 33 seats and couldn’t secure a clear mandate.

When the results came out, social media was buzzing. BJP supporters were outraged, saying that the party had done so much for UP, yet the state didn’t support them back. People were especially shocked by the results in Ayodhya, Varanasi, and Lucknow. In Ayodhya, where Modi had just inaugurated the Ram Mandir four months ago, the BJP lost badly. Even Modi himself and Defence Minister Rajnath Singh won by just a slim margin.

So, what went wrong for BJP in UP? Let’s break it down:

Modi-Yogi Popularity

The BJP relied heavily on the popularity of Prime Minister Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. But many of their candidates didn’t connect with the local voters. This disconnect hurt them and led to a drop in their vote share.

Comments on the Constitution

You can’t separate caste from politics in UP. Some local BJP leaders made comments about ending reservations and changing the Constitution. This didn’t sit well with Dalit and OBC voters, creating a lot of negative sentiment.

Uttar Pradesh Ticket Distribution

Sources say CM Yogi Adityanath recommended changing the tickets of 35 candidates, but the national committee ignored him. They kept the same candidates, and 26 of them lost by big margins.

Internal Politics in Uttar Pradesh

Infighting among local leaders also played a big role. In Muzaffarnagar, sitting MP and Minister of State Sanjeev Baliyan lost because of issues with his colleague Sangeet Soam. Similar problems occurred in Azamgarh and Jaunpur.

Issues in Ayodhya

Ayodhya is central to BJP’s politics, especially with the Ram Mandir. But after the temple’s construction, they lost here too. Former MP Lallu Singh was unpopular due to his hateful comments against Dalits and other castes. He was defeated by a Dalit candidate from the Samajwadi Party by a huge margin.

Additionally, the BJP demolished homes and shops of local vendors for the Ram Mandir construction and didn’t financially support them afterward. There were also reports of a scam in land redistribution, which further hurt their image.

In the end, a combination of relying too much on Modi and Yogi’s popularity, insensitive remarks by local leaders, poor ticket distribution decisions, internal conflicts, and mishandling of local issues like in Ayodhya led to BJP’s significant loss in Uttar Pradesh in 2024.