LUCKNOW, March 4 (IANS): A day after the seven-phased Uttar Pradesh assembly polls ended, political parties spent Sunday assessing their performance – some scaling down their anticipated numbers, while others prepared for the counting Tuesday.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader and former chief minister Rajnath Singh Sunday said the prospects for the party were bright but admitted that the party could be far behind in the race for government formation.
His party colleague and Rajya Sabha member Kalraj Mishra too hinted at a similar outcome but refused to give numbers.
“Am not going to spell out the number but yes, we would be doing better than expected,” he added.
Congress leader and Coal Minister Sriprakash Jaiswal also refused to cite numbers but said that the party would do better than last time.
Crediting Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi of “bringing back the party to life in the state”, he said the party prospects were brighter than ever.
Baba Hardev Singh, state chief of Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) – which had a poll alliance with the Congress – gave a fair chance to the combine and said the alliance would do well in western Uttar Pradesh.
Meanwhile, for the Samajwadi Party (SP), which has been predicted to have an edge and emerge as the single largest party as per exit polls, the mood seemed upbeat. The party office was abuzz with activity Sunday and office bearers spoke loud and clear how the `bicycle` (the party symbol) was on its way to the Vidhan Sabha.
Bahujan Samaj Party and Chief Minister Mayawati was closeted in her sprawling bungalow at Mall Avenue and discussed possible poll outcome with close aides.
According to aides, she became cheerful once told the Election Commission had issued orders to unveil her statues and that of elephants that were draped for over a month now.
She also checked on officials to know whthere the directives were met and at what time the statues were “set free”.