Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday revived his controversial “80 versus 20” pitch ahead of the upcoming assembly elections, citing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielding eight candidates against the Samajwadi Party’s two for 10 Rajya Sabha seats as proof that 80% of the electorate backs the ruling alliance, leaving only 20% for the Opposition.
“The battle has once again shaped up as an ‘80 vs. 20’ contest, with 80% belonging to the National Democratic Alliance and 20% to the PDA. The fate of the PDA will become clear,” Adityanath said at an event to mark Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s 25 years in public service and as the head of government.
“The Rajya Sabha elections have foreshadowed the outcome of the upcoming assembly elections,” the chief minister said, dismissing the SP’s core demographic framework of the PDA ( Pichhda or Backward Classes, Dalit, and Alpasankhyak or Minorities) as a minority force.
Today, Prime Minister Modi leads the nation as the MP from Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh,” Adityanath said. SP president Akhilesh Yadav responded to the chief minister’s remarks, arguing that it admitted atrocities against the PDA would not stop during his regime. Rising from a small village in Gujarat, he is providing leadership to India. “When Modi ji took the oath as (Gujarat) chief minister, the then Prime Minister was Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the MP from Lucknow.
Muslims accounted for 19.26% of the UP’s population, according to the 2011 census. In 2022, the BJP would insist that 80% of the state’s population backed progress, while 20% opposed it and took a negative approach. Yogi Adityanath did not expand on the 80-20 reference at the event on Wednesday and lauded Prime Minister Modi for presenting India to the world as a strong and capable nation. “It is a proud day for every Indian as Narendra Modi completes 25 years of tireless public service.
An ordinary party worker has secured a new identity for the country on the global stage,” the chief minister said.
