Is growing corruption the reason behind BJP’s humiliating defeat in UP by-polls?

UP BJP MLA Shyam Prakash blamed growing corruption in the state as the reason behind party's latest poll debacle.

Lucknow, June 1: The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) got a major jolt ahead of the all-important 2019 Lok Sabha elections after the saffron party lost 11 out of the 14 Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in the May 28 by-polls held in 11 states. The results of by-polls were announced on Thursday.

The biggest setback the BJP faced was in Uttar Pradesh by-polls as the party lost both Kairana (Lok Sabha) and Noorpur (Assembly) seats. The loss in UP by-polls came close on the heels of the party's drubbing in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies during the by-polls held in March.

Like in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, the latest loss of the BJP in UP is because of the coming together of the opposition parties against the saffron party.

While UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, under whose leadership the party fought the by-polls in the state, is yet to make an official statement regarding the BJP's defeat, party MLA Shyam Prakash blamed growing corruption in the state as the reason behind party's latest poll debacle.

He added that the farmers are also unhappy with the state BJP government which came to power in 2017 with a huge mandate.

"The officers are corrupt. The farmers are not happy with the government. There are several reasons behind the BJP's loss. I have nothing against the government. It is the officers who are at fault. Corruption, as compared to the last government, is on a rise. That's the reason of my resentment," Prakash wrote on Facebook.

Prakash's allegations of corruption under the Yogi government raise several questions as why the BJP is not taking any action against the erring officials. While the BJP MLA clarified that he has nothing against the current government, that does not absolve it from corruption allegations as it won't be possible for officials to "steal" directly under the nose of ministers of the BJP regime.

The leaders of united Opposition said that the defeat of the BJP in UP by-polls is a message against the saffron party's divisive politics and lacklustre governance where farmers, Dalits, women and Muslims are feeling suffocated. The Opposition has also demanded Yogi's resignation after the BJP's poll debacle.