Lucknow, 6th May 2021: The results of the Uttar Pradesh Panchayat elections have sounded an alarm bell for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The current crisis of the Corona epidemic could have an adverse effect on the Assembly elections next year.
The government has now asked MLAs and MPs to try to increase oxygen plants, hospital beds, and the purchase of medicines before any “self-promotion” on social media.
After receiving the feedbacks, the party leaders are missing from the region as well as social media platforms. This information has been given by a party leader on condition of anonymity.
A central leader said, “There is a perception among the people that the BJP is focusing on West Bengal violence, but no one is interested. People are worried about the epidemic which has affected almost everyone.”
“People’s representatives have been warned that before changing the image and perception, they have to give proof of the work done,” he said.
In the 2017 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP had achieved an unprecedented victory. The party came to power by winning 320 seats. However, now there is criticism for poor management of health services in the state. According to government figures, 13,798 patients have died in Uttar Pradesh till Wednesday.
Social media is full of videos of people running here and there for oxygen. The Allahabad High Court on Tuesday said that the death of corona patients due to lack of oxygen is a criminal act. The court said it was nothing short of genocide.
Several senior BJP office-bearers in the state has said that the results of the Panchayat elections are a sign of the declining popularity of the government and growing anger across the state due to lack of essential health care and medical oxygen.
“Although panchayat elections are not fought on party tickets, everyone knows which party has supported which candidate. While we were expecting better results, the epidemic affected people’s choices. I would not say that the results are a direct result of the second wave. There were some flaws last year too.”
According to the results announced on Tuesday, the BJP suffered losses in strongholds like Ayodhya, Varanasi, Lucknow, Varanasi and Gorakhpur. In Varanasi, the Samajwadi Party won 15 out of 40 wards. While BJP and BSP got seven seats each. Meanwhile, Congress had to settle for victory in five wards. In Ayodhya, the SP managed to gain the biggest lead with 24 out of 40 wards, while the BJP won six and the BSP five.
The state government has made arrangements to increase the number of beds in hospitals for its share claims. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Wednesday inaugurated the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Hospital COVID-19 Hospital set up by the Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO) in Lucknow. But party functionaries believe the resources have been increased.
The MLA said he was also getting calls for help from rural areas, where the infrastructure is inadequate.
Sandeep Shastri, vice-chancellor of Jagran Lake City University and national coordinator of the Lokniti Network said the BJP government’s performance has declined sharply since the 2019 general elections.
On the impact of the government’s response to the upcoming elections, he said, “Local body elections are the result of local peculiarities in particular. But the trend of panchayat elections shows that there is frustration among the voters.”