'Bad news' for BJP ahead of UP Assembly Elections 2022

The panchayat poll results also indicate that the BJP's Hindu card did not yield desired results. The party has lost in Ayodhya, Varanasi and Mathura - the key centres of its Hindutva plank - and it is SP which has gained ground here.

The BJP also fared poorly in western UP that has been the epicentre of the farmers' agitation and BJP's loss had led to the resurgence of the Rashtriya Lok Dal that had been relegated to the wings after the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.