Counting of votes for Uttar Pradesh assembly elections held from February 10 to March 7 in seven phases is underway. As per the latest trends, BJP’s Yogi Adityanath is on course to retain power for a second straight term. In the initial rounds of counting of votes in Uttar Pradesh, BJP has comfortably crossed the halfway mark, way ahead of its rival Samajwadi Party.
The results are in expected lines as almost all exit polls had predicted BJP’s return with a comfortable majority. In fact, one exit poll had predicted a repeat of the BJP’s 2017 performance, when it won a whopping over 300 seats in the 403-member Assembly.
While all statistics since the beginning appeared to be in favour of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh, a few ardent supporters of SP chief Akhilesh Yadav remained bullish on the Samajwadi Party chief. They were confident that Akhilesh Yadav would dethrone Yogi Adityanath as the next Chief Minister. However, as the BJP inches closer to victory, it is clear that these Tweets predicting Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav’s victory in Uttar Pradesh did not age well.
Let’s take a look at some Tweets expressing confidence that Akhilesh Yadav and his Samajwadi Party would replace the incumbent BJP government in Uttar Pradesh led by Yogi Adityanath.
Arfa Khanum Sherwani, a ‘journalist’ for The Wire, led the charge, tweeting in January that the vote distribution in Uttar Pradesh would be 80:20, with the BJP securing 20%.
“The speed with which leaders are leaving BJP to join SP, feels like in the game of 80:20, BJP will be left with just 20,” Arfa Khanum had suggested rather confidentely on January 12, 2022.
The speed with which leaders are leaving BJP to join SP, feels like in the game of 80:20, BJP will be left with just 20.
— Arfa Khanum Sherwani (@khanumarfa) January 12, 2022
Ashok Swain, a habitual fake news peddler and Left propagandist, was another entrant on the list of sycophants, having dismissed exit polls because they predicted a sweeping victory for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh. On March 7, 2022, Swain Tweeted, “India’s Exit Polls are as ‘good’ as Indian media – No truth in it.”
India’s Exit Polls are as ‘good’ as Indian media – No truth in it.
— Ashok Swain (@ashoswai) March 7, 2022
Many other leftist liberals, who despise the BJP and Yogi Adityanath, had also wished for the BJP to lose in Uttar Pradesh. Swati Chaturvedi, journalist cum abusive troll who accuses others of being abusive trolls, also took to Twitter on March 7, 2022 to share an op-ed she wrote in which she belittled Modi by saying that Modi wants to believe he has an appointment with history if he and Yogi win UP.
She captioned her Tweet, “UP Elections 2022: All roads lead to Kashi | Op-eds – Gulf News where I say that Modi, MP from Kashi thinks he has an appointment with history if he & Yogi can win UP. Contenders the Gandhi siblings & Akhilesh Yadav out to prove a point.”
UP Elections 2022: All roads lead to Kashi | Op-eds – Gulf News where I say that Modi, MP from Kashi thinks he has an appointment with history if he & Yogi can win UP. Contenders the Gandhi siblings & Akhilesh Yadav out to prove a point https://t.co/dT5T3ytar4
— Swati Chaturvedi (@bainjal) March 7, 2022
“It will be a welcome change if BJP loses UP. It will weaken those who today have too much power and will give hope to the Opposition for 2024. It may also force Govt into some good governance. But I don’t see them losing in UP. Could be tight but they may come through. #UPElections,” Sumanath Raman, a Tamil television anchor and sports commentator had hoped on March 7, 2022.
It will be a welcome change if BJP loses UP. It will weaken those who today have too much power and will give hope to Opposition for 2024. It may also force Govt into some good governance. But I don’t see them losing in UP. Could be tight but they may come through. #UPElections
— Sumanth Raman (@sumanthraman) March 7, 2022
Many leftist media outlets also attempted to create an anti-incumbency wave against the BJP by publishing article after article predicting the BJP’s defeat in the 2022 Assembly Elections in Uttar Pradesh.
Given their penchant for meddling in India’s internal affairs, Pakistani TV actress Sehar Shinwari predicted that Yogi would ‘badly’ lose the Vidhan Sabha elections in 2022. She not only predicted Yogi’s defeat but also insulted him by referring to him as ‘Atanknath.’ Shinwari went on to make another extremely ambitious prediction that Mamata Banerjee would succeed Modi as Prime Minister of India in 2024.
Mark my word Mamta Banerjee will replace Modi as Pm of India in 2024 and Yogi Atanknath will badly lose UP vidhan sabha elections next year.
— Sehar Shinwari (@SeharShinwari) September 16, 2021
However, much to their chagrin, trends show that the BJP, led by Yogi Adityanath, is on course for an unprecedented victory in Uttar Pradesh. The ruling party is currently leading on 270 plus seats, 70 more than what is required to form the government. The live updates, trends and highlights of the 2022 Assembly election results can be viewed here.
