LUCKNOW: The 2024 Lok Sabha poll debacle of BJP in UP has seemingly left some of its tall leaders in the state worrying about the party's prospects. This was echoed in the words of Badlapur BJP MLA Ramesh Chandra Mishra, who sparked a row claiming that the party might not return to power in the state in the 2027 Assembly polls considering its present condition concerning UP.
"The present state of the party in UP is precarious...it faces the threat of getting ousted from power in the 2027 assembly elections,” the two-time BJP MLA is heard saying in a video that went viral on social media. Mishra also urged BJP's national leadership to step in and take “big decisions” to consolidate the party in the state.
Speaking of the challenge posed by the increasing popularity of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav's political discourses with respect to the marginalized sections in the state, Mishra noted, "Considering the manner in which the PDA (Picchde (backward classes or OBCs), Dalits and Alpsankhyak (minorities)) has dominated the political discourse and the misleading atmosphere created by the Samajwadi Party, the situation of our party seems not so strong in the state.”
"Every single party worker will have to toil hard putting his/her soul and heart for the sake of the party … Only then will we be able to form the government again… otherwise, the current situation seems bleak and the condition of our government is bad," Mishra reiterated.
Sources from BJP said that Mishra's statements echoed growing apprehensions among the party functionaries in the state, especially, after the recent drubbing in Lok Sabha elections. After the video went viral, the MLA however went incommunicado.
Another factor that is believed to have pushed Mishra to call for the national leadership's intervention is the fear of losing the ticket in the next stint. Mishra had won the Badlapur seat by a slender margin of 2300 votes in 2017 which further came down to 1300 in 2022.
According to sources from BJP, Mishra may not be sure of getting a ticket in 2027 as the party could deny candidature to almost 100 lesser-performing, sitting legislators.
Badlapur is an assembly segment coming under the Jaunpur Parliamentary constituency where BJP’s Kripashankar Singh lost the polls to SP’s Babu Singh Kushwaha.
