The mood at the Samajwadi Party (SP) headquarters in Lucknow changed from that of jubiliation to despondency in matter of three-hours on March 10. At 8.30 a.m. as the initial trends for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election results started pouring in, the gaint television screens stationed outside the party headquarter at Lucknow showed the SP standing neck to neck with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The crowd of supporters and workers hopeful of impending victory raised slogans and surged towards these screens taking over the road but by 11.30 a.m. as the numbers started slipping, the party workers stared at the same screens with disbelief.
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The disbelief soon turned into anger, primarily against the EVMs which, as per the narrative built up by the SP leadership especially party president Akhilesh Yadav, stole what was their rightful mandate. The anger was also directed at Mr. Yadav and the party leadership. Unlike, the BJP office, here the gates to the party office remained shut from morning. There were no words of assurance, no pats on the back and no consolation on offer. Mr. Yadav’s communication to his cadres was restricted to the social media.
An anguished supporter asked,“They say everyone is on sale — be it the media or the State administration. Then why are we not in the market to buy?” He refused to divulge his name or even the district he comes from. The disapppointment was writ large. This is the third consecutive defeat, including the 2017 Assembly and the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, after Mr. Yadav wrested the control of the party in an unseemly manner from his father Mulayam Singh Yadav and uncle Shivpal Yadav in 2016. “They just do not listen. We kept telling that the BJP is hacking the EVMs. What is the point of making noise once the deed is done,” another supporter said. The doors of the party remained shut, only opening occassionally for the senior leadership trundling in SUVs.
In a sharp contrast, three km away at the BJP office, the morning began with quiet confidence and the tempo rose well synchronised with results showing the party’s surge. The mood did not dampen even when it was clear that the party will not breach its 2017 tally. By noon, the party office was bathed in safforn gulal. Holi had come early here. Delerious with happiness BJP workers, with their faces smeared in saffron, danced to the beats of dhols and hollered “Jai Shree Ram”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath were the only two figures that featured in this celebrations. People wore Mr. Modi’s face on their chests and held up Yogi posters. “Cycle todi baees main, phir thodege sattais main,” (We broke the cycle in 2022 and will break it again in 2027), a group shouted setting the mood for the next five years in Uttar Pradesh.