Understanding Urban–Rural Patterns of BJP Campaigning in UP (Lok Sabha Elections 2014)

Abstract

The electoral patterns in Lok Sabha as well as state assembly elections reflect perceptible differences and variations across regions, groups, communities and constituencies. One such significant variation is found in urban and rural pattern of voting and party campaigning. The rural voter turnout in Uttar Pradesh stood at 58.5 per cent as compared to 54.7 per cent in urban localities. The difference also lies in party support in urban and rural areas, issues of campaigning and finally strategies to connect with rural and urban masses. Is the recent Lok Sabha election also a testimony to such variations? Or has the gap reduced due to predominance of other kinds of polarizations, especially religion? BJP’s landslide victory in recent Lok Sabha elections and above all its ability to secure 71 out of 80 in Uttar Pradesh, the state with largest number of seats in Lok Sabha, marked a decisive shift in the electoral verdict of the masses. Its vote share in the state increased by 25 per cent. The article would engage with a comparative study of urban and rural electoral patterns by accounting for variations in vote share, strategies used by political parties to attract rural and urban voters, issues of relevance for women voters and areas where religious polarization made the rural–urban divide immaterial as both urban and rural voters responded equally to religious appeals.