The results of recently held local bodies elections in Uttar Pradesh have startled pseudo-secular forces because the most unexpected has happened in the prime laboratory of secular-social engineering, the re-emergence of BJP as a force to reckon with.

The opponents of BJP have given the simplistic analyses, saying that it is a city-phenomenon which resulted in the Mayoral mandate at Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur, Lucknow, Meerut, Agra, Aligarh and Ghaziabad. The BJP has won eight corporations but for electoral analyses I would count Moradabad too, for victory of BJP there at has been snatched by the presiding officer who ensured that BJP looses where it was winning by more than 5,000 votes. In re-counting nearly 8,000 votes were cancelled and thus it was shown that BJP lost by 1,800 votes. In all the Mayoral elections of 12 corporations, BJP was the key contestant everywhere. Congress could win Allahabad, Bareilly and Jhansi, only because BJP committed mistake of putting up wrong candidates. Nowhere SP was in the reckoning except in Moradabad and Mulayam's administrative tricks succeeded there.

It may be recalled that in the 2004 Lok-Sabha elections BJP lost almost all urban seats including Delhi, Mumbai, Varanasi, Agra, Kanpur and others barring Lucknow where AB Vajpayee himself was the candidate. Prior to 2004, BJP had 56 urban Lok Sabha seats but only 14 could be retained in that election. BJP won 138 Lok Sabha seats. Most of them were totally rural seats with hardly couple of towns in it. But the myth-makers are busy yet again in strengthening age-old myth as if the results of Nagar Palikas and Nagar Panchayats do not exhibit symptoms of re-emergence of BJP.

The results show that the number of Nagar Palika and Nagar Panchayats won by SP are greater than other parties, closely followed by BJP. Ratio between SP and BJP may be around 5:3. This must be remembered that in the worst ever elections of 2004 BJP had won Hapur, Bulandshahar, Pilibhit and few other seats all of these comprised largely rural populace. I scanned through numerous editions of the Jagaran Daily. The titles of the result news would bear me out. Jalaun - BJP eight seats, SP and independents seven each. Siyana, Shikarpur, Anupshahar-Kamal bloomed; in the Nagar Panchayats SP, BJP and Congress one each.

Chitrakoot, Karwi- SP won. Rajapur - BJP. Mankipur -Congress. Atarra Banda - more than half wards went to BJP. Mahoba - Independent dumps SP. Farrukhabad - SP and BJP got shocks but Congress could not even open its account. In Lucknow Nagar Panchayats SP and BJP equal. This is the ground reality. But looking at the macro-level, BJP is still confined to cities!

What has puzzled opponents of the BJP is that the party, which was written off, has emerged up from its shadow. In fact, till yesterday chattering-classes were debating that whether Mayawati would snatch the crown or Mulayam would retain it. Now suddenly the candidature of Kalyan Singh too has arisen. Mulayam is facing unprecedented anti-incumbency factor. When people compare regimes of BJP, BSP and SP at governance level, both Mulayam and Mayawati are found wanting when compared with Kalyan Singh. But as the image of BJP suffered during last two years, he was considered out of the race.

In fact, when the BJP president Rajnath Singh declared that Kalyan Singh would be the Chief Ministerial candidate, people laughed at it. But today Kalyan Singh is very much in the reckoning. How did it happen? The hype generated before 2004 election attained high altitude and the victory of BJP and its allies was taken for granted; the Vajpayee Govts' achievements were accepted by one and all. All these factors lulled the senses of both the workers and the sympathisers.

After defeat the height of the hype caused dampening of spirit of the workers and the sympathisers alike, in inverse proportion. What has happened in UP is that after two and half years workers and sympathisers have come out of the gloomy mood. This will brighten the party's chances in the ensuing assembly elections but also in the next general election when it takes place.

The UP Congress president Salman Khursheed's comment that the Congress has now come out from intensive care unit and moved to the general ward is not a complete truth. The local election in Congress hold districts must be very depressing. Secondly launch of Rahul Gandhi in UP has turned into a flop.

Thirdly, the Central Govt lead by Congress is still in ICU with oxygen switch tightly held in the hands of Leftists and others. People, throughout the country are now fed up with appeasements. The fears of reservation, terrorism and price rise are very much real. The entire party and its allies are in the dock.

Courtesy: www.dailypioneer.com, November 12, 2006