In the 2022 Assembly elections that concluded with the results yesterday, i.e on the 10th of March 2022, BJP won 4 states, including Uttar Pradesh where the party created history by becoming the first party in over 35 years to have returned to power. In 4 out of these 5 states, BJP increased their vote share significantly, cementing their march towards political dominance.
BJP’s historic win in the 2022 Assembly elections came as a jolt for the Modi detractors. As the results of the high-octane elections, particularly in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP won 255 seats with a 202-seat majority, began to trickle in on Thursday, March 10, Islamists and left-liberals took to Twitter to vent their rage at Dalit voters. They abused and cursed the Dalits for ‘making BJP win’.
So enraged were these Islamists at Dalit voters, whom they saw as the main catalyst for the BJP’s return to power in Uttar Pradesh, that one Twitter user, @marasim135, went on to label all Dalit and OBC voters in Lakhimpur, Hathras, and Unnao who voted for the BJP as “greedy pests.”
Don’t blame the parties. It is the PEOPLE
— She Was Regal (@marasim135) March 10, 2022
greedy pests!
Going by their proclivity to brand themselves as victims of ‘growing Islamophobia under BJP’s Hindutva regime’, another Twitter user Malik brothers (@MalikT1232) claimed that the Dalits voted for the BJP as the party engages in ‘genocide’.
Moral of story is that akhilesh still did not get Yadav and hindu vote whatever he won the seat with Muslim voter now mostly dalit yadav given vote to bjp for genocide https://t.co/vvw7M7t8ud
— Malik brothers (@MalikT1232) March 11, 2022
Twitter user @MogalAdil denounced the Dalit voters for voting BJP to power ‘even after Covid, Migrant crisis, unemployment, rapes’, under their regime.
Some UC elite woman is mad at me coz I said the Dalit and women voted BJP to victory in UP 😂😂
— عادل مغل 🇵🇸 (@MogalAadil) March 11, 2022
Kyu Muslims ko blame karne ka chance nahi mil rha isliye gussa aa rha hai?
The fact is even after Covid, Migrant crisis, unemployment, rapes BJP was voted in power by them!
Another Twitter user mocked Dalits who voted for the BJP, implying that the BJP exploited the backward caste and the Dalits to retain its supremacy and that they are not inherently Dalit supporters but rather upper-caste Hindus supporters. He claimed that “BJP is a Brahmin baniya party.” “Let BJP announce that in 2024 PM face will be a Dalit. It can never do that. Making President is just to get Dalit vote,” Tweeted one @SmartHaider2244.
It is a Brahmin baniya party. Let BJP announce that in 2024 PM face will be a dalit. It can never do that. Making President is just to get Dalit votes.
— Haider 2244 حیدر 2244 (@SmartHaider2244) March 11, 2022
In a now-deleted Tweet, one Seema Rizvi cursed the Dalits who voted for the saffron party in the 2022 Assembly elections. She wrote, “Dalits are die-hard fans of BJP…I am waiting for a Hindu Rashtra…manusmriti will put them where they were lifted from”.
“Siddique Kappan was on his way to Hathras to report on the heinous rape and murder of a Dalit girl. Today he is still in jail for the last 1.5 years. While Hathras has elected and voted for BJP”, tweeted another enraged social media user @drunkjournalist.
Siddique Kappan was on his way to Hathras to report on the heinous rape and murder of a Dalit Girl.
— Drunk Journalist (@drunkJournalist) March 10, 2022
Today he is still in jail for last 1.5 years.
While Hathras has elected and voted for BJP.
Another Islamist claimed that BJP retained power in the 4 states because Dalits have shifted away from social justice-based caste assertion and toward Hindutva-based Dalit Politics.
Dalits have shifted themselves towards Hindutva based Dalit Politics from Social Justice based Caste assertion.
— اخلاص (@tamashbeen_) March 10, 2022
This is the biggest and most powerful electoral advantage for BJP.
As expected, the BJP’s resounding victory enraged not only Islamists but also left some liberals baffled. A Congress sycophant, @shalluchandla, went on to dismiss BJP Dalit supporters altogether. She claimed that India’s Dalits are the biggest ‘myth’ because they are the most communal from within.
Biggest Myth is Dalits of India. They are most communal from inside. In UP they voted for BJP and in Punjab they voted for AAP who is RSS product.
— shallu chandla (@shalluchandla) March 10, 2022
BJP’s inexorable rise in the assembly elections
Regardless of how much these Islamists and liberals burn, the BJP has proven its mettle in the recently concluded Assembly elections. Despite the massive efforts undertaken by the Left, BJP pulled off a stunning victory, racking up an impressive 255 seats out of the total 403 seats in Uttar Pradesh.
It is the first time that a government has returned to power in Uttar Pradesh in over 35 years—a significant achievement, given the challenges faced by the Yogi Adityanath government in the wake of the unprecedented COVID-19 crisis. Not just that, while the number of seats of BJP has declined, there is an increase in BJP’s vote share in the state from 2017 to 2022. In 2017, according to the Election Commission data, BJP secured a 39.67% vote share in the state with 3,44,03,299 votes in total. In 2022, according to Election Commission data, BJP’s vote share went up significantly, up to 41.3%.
Interestingly, while addressing BJP workers after the party’s thumping victory in Uttar Pradesh, Manipur, Goa and Uttarakhand PM Modi had congratulated the voters of Uttar Pradesh of choosing development over caste-based politics of the oppositions parties.
Taking a dig at the opposition in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said that UP chose ‘vikas,’ proving everyone wrong who said the state votes on caste. He said the people of UP had been divided by casteism earlier, but now the people had chosen development in 2014, 2017, 2019 and 2022. “I’d also say today that, following the 2019 election results, some political experts claimed that the 2017 results determined the 2019 results. I believe they will say again this time that the results of 2022 will determine the results of 2024,” he said.
As the MP for Banaras, I can say that the people of Uttar Pradesh have realised that it is now necessary to avoid those who engage in caste politics and defame the community, and prioritise the development of the state, added Modi.
