BJP TO BET ON WOMEN AND YOUTH IN UP AND BENGAL: SANJAY SAXENA

BJP TO BET ON WOMEN AND YOUTH IN UP AND BENGAL: SANJAY SAXENA

29-NOV-ENG 16

RAJIV NAYAN AGRAWAL

ARA----------------------The results of the Bihar Assembly elections not only crowned Nitish Kumar as Chief Minister for the tenth time, but also gave the Bharatiya Janata Party a formula that will now be tested in major states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal. The hand of the female half of the population is clearly visible behind the NDA's historic victory of 202 seats. Women outperformed men's 62.98 percent by voting 71.78 percent, a figure that reflects not just numbers but a social revolution. Senior BJP leaders are calling it a victory of "Y" (women-youth-centric) politics, where caste equations broke down and development schemes polarized votes. The question now is whether this model will be able to overcome the challenges posed by the Yogi government in UP and Mamata Banerjee in Bengal? Political experts believe that yes, if the right decisions are made, from the budget to booth management. What happened in Bihar was no coincidence. According to Election Commission data, a total voter turnout of 67.13 percent was recorded, a record since 1951. But it was women who played the real game. Under the Nitish Kumar government's 'Mahila Swarojgar Yojana,' installments of 10,000 rupees were deposited into the accounts of 1.5 crore women, and this money was reflected in the long queues at voting booths. While talk of Lalu Prasad Yadav's old Muslim-Yadav (MY) equation lingered, half the population supported the NDA so strongly that the Grand Alliance was reduced to 35 seats. The BJP alone won 89 seats, becoming the largest party, and the Janata Dal United secured 85.

Experts say that women contributed not only in quantity but also in quality. While there was talk of anti-incumbency among male voters, women prioritized the concrete impact of the schemes. For example, 25-year-old BJP folk singer Maithili Thakur won the Alinagar seat in Darbhanga by 11,730 votes, symbolizing the new energy of young women. A total of 88 women candidates contested, of which 28 were victorious, and the BJP set a record by winning 10 out of 13. This victory represents not just a victory for seats, but the establishment of a new vote bank, where issues of development and security transcend caste. Now, all eyes are on Uttar Pradesh, where the Yogi Adityanath government has become synonymous with law and order in its eight and a half years of rule. Inspired by Bihar's success, the BJP is preparing to further strengthen the 'Y' formula here. Just look at the 2025-26 budget presented in February 2025; this 'election budget' of Rs 808,636 crore focused on women and youth. ₹225 crore was allocated for the Chief Minister's Youth Self-Employment Scheme, which promises loans and training to unemployed youth. Similarly, ₹2,980 crore was allocated for a pension scheme for destitute women, providing monthly assistance to millions of women. A scheme to provide scooties to meritorious girl students also made headlines, and a roadmap for women's economic empowerment, modeled on schemes like Ladli Behna, is being developed. Political analysts predict a major employment announcement in the budget, to be presented just before the 2027 assembly elections.

The Yogi government, after the Lok Sabha elections, organized a police recruitment exam, offering jobs to over 60,000 young people, without any allegations of corruption. This confidence may now be cashable in the assembly elections. But UP politics will not be limited to schemes alone. Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav is working to strengthen his "PDA" (Backward, Dalit, and Minority) politics, which was successful in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. It weakened in the by-elections, but Akhilesh is ready to try it. The "Y" formula will be a useful counter to the BJP. While the MY formula failed in Bihar, the fragmentation of Yadav votes in Uttar Pradesh could prove beneficial for the BJP. NDA Yadav candidates won more seats than the Grand Alliance in Bihar, and a similar trend could be seen in Uttar Pradesh. Furthermore, there are law and order issues. The Yogi government has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against crimes against women, where encounters and strict action have instilled a sense of security among women. In the last two years, speedy justice has been provided in hundreds of such cases, which could become the slogan "Save the daughter, hit the criminal" in this election year. Political experts say that if something like a 10,000 rupee self-employment scheme for women is included in the budget, the SP's PDA equation could collapse.

This formula will prove even more exciting in West Bengal politics. The BJP has based its campaign on the Bihar model for the 2026 assembly elections. The party's target is 160 seats, and a "quartet" has been formed to monitor every booth: Union Minister Bhupendra Yadav, former Tripura Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, co-incharge Sunil Bansal, and IT head Amit Malviya. Immediately after the Bihar victory, laddus were distributed in Bengal, and PM Modi hinted at breaking the "Mamata magic." Women's safety will become a major issue here. Cases like the RG tax scam and the gang rape of a medical student in Durgapur are exposing the Trinamool Congress's weaknesses. The BJP will avoid personal attacks and focus on issues, as it changed its strategy in October 2025.

Bengal BJP chief Samik Bhattacharya claims that they will regain power in 2026. Digital campaigns and booth strengthening will be the focus to woo the youth, while Bihar-like schemes for women will be developed. Star. The three-year-old tent is now bearing fruit, and the Bihar experiment will take on a different dimension, taking into account Bengal's cultural diversity. All this suggests that the BJP has developed a template from Bihar that will break down caste barriers and lay the foundation for development. While Yogi's "Thoko Do" model is appealing to women in UP, in Bengal, collective leadership and PM Modi's development agenda will be key to breaking through Mamata Banerjee's stronghold. But the challenges are not insignificant. The SP's PDA remains strong in UP, and Trinamool's local support in Bengal. Nevertheless, statistics suggest that 71.78 percent women voting in Bihar turned the tables, and if even 60 percent of the UP-Bengal alliance achieves this, the 2026 landscape will change. In this new era of politics, the "Y" will rule, where half the population and youthful energy will combine to create history. Overall, the Bihar wave will now engulf India, and this move by the BJP will either prove to be a masterstroke or a lesson. Only time will tell, but preparations are in full swing.