In the first phase of the assembly election held on February 10 in UP, 58 constituencies had gone to the polls. In 2017, the BJP had won 53 of these seats while the RSS projection, based on IB input, is this time the party will win 17 seats. In the second phase of elections, held on February 14, at least 55 constituencies had gone to the polls. The BJP had won 38 of these seats in 2017 and this time the Sangh projection is it will not be able to retain half of the seats.
The Bhagwat’s meeting has come as a shocker as the Sangh leaders in UP were expecting a fall in the number of seats but never believed that the party will hit the rock bottom.
“The Hijab controversy united Muslims and they came out in large number to cast their votes, particularly in the second phase of the election. The Hindus on the other hand remained silent and probably due to this, the party is facing a whitewash in the first two phases of the election,” a Sangh functionary said.