LUCKNOW:The results of the panchayat elections in Uttar Pradesh may have left the ruling BJP in an elated mood, but it also serves as a lesson for the opposition that is hopeful of toppling the incumbent Yogi Adityanath government in the next assembly elections.
The biggest lesson is that a divided opposition will not be able to realize its dreams of returning to power.
The deep fragmentation between Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Congress will not only ensure the return of the BJP to power but will leave the opposition completely deflated.
The SP that had swept the first phase of panchayat elections, could not hold its game together in the final phase of polls.
Even though SP President Akhilesh Yadav alleges that the ruling party used arm-twisting tactics to ensure the victory of its candidates and deployed the state machinery for this, the fact remains that SP could not evolve a strategy for its victory.
Most of its members succumbed to 'pressures' and the party could not win even where it had a majority.
"It is the SP's over-confidence that has made it a loser in the panchayat elections. If the party does not work on its cadre management, there does not seem much hope for it because the BJP is vigorously working at the ground level, " said a senior party leader, who is in retirement mode.
The BSP also has a few lessons to learn from the panchayat elections.
BSP President Mayawati was shrewd enough to announce that her party would not contesting the district panchayat elections.
The party, in any case, did not perform well in these elections and its cadres did not have the will and spirit to fight the polls.
The Congress, meanwhile, touched rock bottom in the panchayat elections.
The party lost to the BJP in Amethi and Rae Bareli and could not win even a single district.
In Pratapgarh, former MP Pramod Tiwari managed some face-saving by forging an alliance with his arch-rival Raghuraj Pratap Singh a.k.a. Raja Bhaiyya and ensuring the defeat of the BJP.
With the SP, BSP and Congress going their separate ways on the eve of assembly elections and further fragmentation of votes bound to take place with the presence of smaller parties in the fray, the road to victory is bound to be easy.
The state's BJP vice president Vijay Bahadur Pathak explains: "We are not just plain lucky-we work hard to win the people's confidence. Our cadres are always in an election mode and the well-oiled organization does not rest even for a day.
"It is this hard work that keeps us connected to the people and work to the advantage for the BJP."