The Milkipur by-election results in Uttar Pradesh have reaffirmed the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ability to recalibrate and reclaim lost ground in the Hindi heartland. After facing an unexpected setback in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, including the high-profile loss of Faizabad, the BJP has bounced back with a resounding victory in the state’s recent by-polls. Earlier, in the 2024 UP by-polls, among nine seats, the NDA got seven and the SP two. Central to this turnaround has been the resurgence of Hindutva politics, the antithesis of social engineering politics, encapsulated in Yogi Adityanath’s slogan, “Batenge to Katenge,” alongside a well-calculated outreach to non-Yadav Other Backward Classes (OBCs) and Dalits. The emotional and religious appeal of Hindutva, especially with the Ram Mandir inauguration, has created a strong connection with the masses. Adityanath’s political dominance, coupled with the BJP’s ability to recalibrate its caste strategies, suggests that the party remains well-positioned.
