Axis My India Chairman and Managing Director Pradeep Gupta claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lost in Uttar Pradesh because Dalits (scheduled castes) and the poor do not go to temples. Gupta made these remarks while explaining the discrepancies between the exit poll predictions and the actual results of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections on an India Today TV show.
In a viral video that has sparked outrage, Gupta is heard saying, “Major narrative this time was Ram Mandir. Whenever the discourse surrounds religion, Dalits and poor tend to distance themselves from it because they do not visit temples.”
Earlier, Axis My India had predicted that NDA would secure 67 seats in Uttar Pradesh, however, the final results showed them winning only 38 seats. Gupta stated that Dalit votes played a decisive role in the state.
According to Gupta, Axis My India had predicted the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) to win 361-401 seats, however, the actual results showed the NDA trailing with just 295 seats. He explained this difference to the BJP’s poor performance in key states like UP, West Bengal, and Maharashtra, where the party fell short of expectations.
As many reports suggested the BJP’s perceived neglect of the Dalit marginalised community’s issues and its collation with upper-caste Hindu groups have alienated many Dalit voters and led to a shift in their voting patterns.
The Samajwadi Party (SP), which is part of the INDIA bloc, won the maximum number of Lok Sabha seats in UP. Akhilesh Yadav’s SP won 37 of 80 Lok Sabha seats,
