With an eye on securing support of Muslims, the SPCongress alliance and Bahujan Samaj Party allotted seats to leaders from the community. Party leaders have raked up issues that have sharpened the social cleavage.Communal polarisation may not yet match the intensity of 2014 but enthusiasm for it has encouraged BJP leaders to use this tactic. Is this indicative that after a false sense of hope, people are back to low expectations from parties Since the last parl iamentary elections, elections were held in ten states and the UT of Puducherry . Regardless of the ‘level’ the BJP eventually settles in UP, its performance will be significantly lower than 2014. The BJP’s vanvas in UP may or may not end, but chances of a poor performance is highly unlikely.

Source: Economic Times February 20, 2017 20:14 UTC