Akhilesh wins Karhal, yet SP fails to form govt in UP | 5 reasons for party's downfall

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With the results of the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections announced today, BJP has formed a thumping majority in the state. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has managed to come out victorious in Karhal, however, his party didn't win the assembly polls in the state. What could be the reason why, a once favorite party of the masses, lost so badly in the state? The performance of SP has been very good, but it still lags far behind BJP. It had made many promises like free electricity, and an increase in the number of government jobs, yet there is a lack of public trust.

Compared to the 2017 assembly elections, the performance of the SP has been quite good, but it still lags behind the BJP. There was a big increase in the vote share of the Samajwadi Party, but the performance of the BJP spoiled every effort made by Akhilesh Yadav. Here are some reasons why SP faced a crushing defeat in UP:

1. BJP has many strong leaders including Amit Shah, Rajnath Singh, JP Nadda and Yogi Adityanath in addition to the biggest face in the form of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. At the same time, apart from Akhilesh, the Samajwadi Party had only Shivpal Yadav, and he also did not appear to be very active. Akhilesh's father Mulayam Singh Yadav also participated in only two rallies in these elections.
2. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party was generally identified on the ground as a party whose main voters are Muslims and Yadavs. If you look at the trends of the elections, Akhilesh was strongly supported by both these factions in 2022. But as far as other castes and creeds are concerned, they generally stayed away from the Samajwadi Party.
3. One of the major reasons for the defeat of the Samajwadi Party is the lack of public confidence in its election promises. The promise of 300 units of free electricity had the power to attract a large number of voters, but the memories of power cuts in Akhilesh's government were still fresh in the minds of the public. 
4. In these elections, the domineering image of Samajwadi Party workers also took down Akhilesh. With the sound of government formation, controversial statements of SP leaders and workers started coming out from many areas of the state, many of whom were allegedly in the form of threats. 
5. SP supremo Akhilesh Yadav had fiercely fielded Muslim candidates in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. In the initial phases, SP fiercely gave tickets to Muslim candidates, due to which BJP was successful in inculcating somewhere in the minds of voters that Akhilesh was moving ahead on the path of Muslim appeasement.