Winning Uttar Pradesh: 5 Simple Graphics That Explain The Math | Read

In 2012, the BJP won 47 of a possible 403 seats, placing it third in Uttar Pradesh. Just two years later, the unbeatable campaign dispensed by Narendra Modi, then a Prime Ministerial candidate, won his party the equivalent of 337 seats - a quantum leap of outstanding proportion. In contrast, the Samajwadi Party, which had won 226 seats under the stewardship of Akhilesh Yadav in 2012, went into free fall to get 42 seats. To win Uttar Pradesh (it has 403 seats), a party must get 202 seats or 35 per cent of the vote share. If you look at the general election results, the SP has 42 seats - less than 30 per cent. The BJP had 337 seats or about 43 per cent. In 2012, it had barely 15 per cent. To win power, the BJP must hold onto most of the "new voters" that it corralled with the storied Modi Wave of 2014.