In its bid to come to power, the BJP is set to unleash its money power in Uttar Pradesh. With 80 Lok Sabha berths and a total electorate of 116,189,383, the saffron brigade is expected to spend nearly `100 crore in UP during the 2014 general election, sources said. The main chunk of the amount could be generated from Gujarat and Maharashtra, sources revealed.
For the party, despite the Modi hype, UP continues to be the toughest turf to conquer. BJP pundits say the party, riding on “Modi charisma”, could get a maximum 20-25 Lok Sabha seats in UP, which might not be adequate for its march to Delhi. They feel the BJP will need a minimum of 40 Lok Sabha seats in the state to smell power at the Centre. This appears a to be “Herculean task” for a party that has only 10 MPs in the state. While the Congress has 21, the ruling Samajwadi Party leads the numbers with 23 MPs. The BSP has 20 MPs.
Barring caste equations, at least 37 constituencies of the total 80 Lok Sabha berths in the state have a Muslim vote bank of 28 per cent. “The BJP could benefit if the Muslim vote is divided between the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party. But if there is tactical voting in the Congress’ favour by the minorities, the BJP would be in trouble. “With Mr Modi as the party’s face, tactical voting by the minority community cannot be ruled out,” a senior BJP leader said.