Uttar Pradesh sidelines 'UP ke ladkey', sides with 'adopted son'

Giving a landslide victory to the BJP in the 2017 assembly polls, the Uttar Pradesh has not only rejected the company of "UP ke ladkey (UP boys)" but has gone on to welcome the "adopted son" Narendra Modi with open arms.

Following Prashant Kishore-propagated strategy of youth power, the two "UP ke ladkey" had gone ahead seeking mandate in the most populous state claiming "UP ko yeh saath pasand hai (UP likes this company)" as "kaam bolta hai (the work speaks)" but it was the "adopted son' Modi who found favour with the electorates.

Although the two parties, the Samajwadis and the Congress, forged the alliance a trifle late but once together, the two UP boys held numerous joint rallies and road shows with gusto.

But Prime Minister Modi adroitly made a place for himself in electorates' hearts, by modestly presenting himself to be the "adopted son" of the state in one of the over two dozens poll meetings that he had addressed.

"Lord Krishna was born in UP and made Gujarat his karam bhoomi. I was born in Gujarat and UP has adopted me...Uttar Pradesh is my 'mai-baap'. I am not the son who would betray his 'mai-baap.' You have adopted me and it is my duty to work for you," Modi had said in an emotional speech at a poll rally in Hardoi.

Modi's "adopted son" remark had invited a lot of flak with BSP president Mayawati and Congress star campaigner Priyanka Gandhi leading the way.

"The people of UP have decided to hand over the power to its own 'beti' rather than its adopted son," Mayawati had claimed, taking a dig at Modi.