Can SP repeat 2012 magic in 2017?

The Samajwadi Party is hoping to replicate the last assembly results in which it stormed to the power with 224 of the 403 assembly seats.

Did the ruling Samajwadi Party score a clean sweep in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections that catapulted the party to its place of pride?

Though the SP romped home with 224 of the 403 assembly seats, its show was not even across the length and breadth of the vast state.

Though the SP almost swept the Yadav heartland in central UP, bagging 76 of 98 seats in that region, it finished runners-up behind the Bahujan Samaj Party in Bundelkhand, considered a stronghold of Mayawati.

The battle was almost evenly poised in western UP, with the two regional parties sharing honours with 29 (SP) and 28 (BSP) seats respectively.

In eastern UP, the SP did fairly well.

Backed by the sizeable population of Yadavs and Kurmis in the region, the SP won 85 seats.

Mayawati's social engineering paid dividends in 2007 when her BSP got 79 out of 150 seats from Poorvanchal that year.

But, it was not action replay in 2012 for her party.

From 79, BSP's tally plummeted to 25 seats last time.

•  What no party in UP wants to talk about

On closer scrutiny of the voting pattern, it emerges that central UP was the decider. The 'bicycle' left others miles behind in the Awadh region.

Although the SP has always done well in the belt in the Yadav bastions of Etawah and Mainpuri, its 2012 performance beat even its own expectations. It won 76 out of the 98 seats with a massive 34.4 per cent vote share.

The SP dished out a scintillating performance in Rohilkhand too by winning 29 out of the 52 seats. The BSP could not do well in the region, which includes Bareilly, Rampur, Pilibhit, Shahjahanpur Budaun.

Drought-hit and backward Bundelkhand was the only region where the SP had to face a setback.

The Bharatiya Janata Party had tried a coup by roping in former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Uma Bharati as a candidate from Mahoba. She could barely save her own seat. And, it was the BSP that retained the top position.

Western UP saw a fierce fight between the SP and the BSP.

Traditionally, the area has been a stronghold of the BSP with just pockets of influence for the BJP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal.

But, the SP came up with another splendid show, winning 29 of the 84 seats. The BSP won 28 seats and the BJP 12.

The results showed an overwhelming support of Muslim voters in favour of the SP.