“California is Uttar Pradesh for the US,” a spokesman for US envoy Eric Garcetti stated after his go to to Lucknow earlier this 12 months.
Separated by about 12,000 kilometers, each Uttar Pradesh (UP) and California have quite a bit in widespread. They’re facilities of innovation, tradition and financial prowess, and the sheer measurement of those two states. However there’s one space the place the parallels are usually not legitimate. They don’t have any political parallel.
In India, it’s stated that the highway to the facility middle of Delhi passes via UP. With its 80 seats within the 543-member Lok Sabha, UP nearly decides which occasion will type the federal government on the Centre. In the meantime, in the US, California has vital affect with the most important inhabitants and essentially the most electoral votes (54) among the many states within the nation. Nevertheless, California’s loyalty to the Democratic Social gathering is a given, not a recreation changer.
Additionally this time, Democratic candidate Kamala Harris was projected to win California within the 2024 US election race in opposition to Republican Donald Trump.
When UP adjustments, so does India. California is extra of a secure guess than a decisive issue that might affect the election. It isn’t one of many battleground states influencing the result of the US presidential election.
In India, events should combat fiercely for every of the 543 seats, and that makes UP essential within the normal elections which are held to decide on the occasion that in the end elects the prime minister. In America, every county does not matter a lot. The candidate who receives essentially the most votes, within the case of 48 states, will receive the state’s electoral votes. That is why every county in California shouldn’t be as essential as a seat within the UP to the fortunes of a celebration.
WHY CALIFORNIA DOESN’T DECIDE WHO RULES IN THE USA
In the US presidential election system, the result is set by the Electoral School, the place every state is assigned a sure variety of electoral votes primarily based on its inhabitants.
California, with its big inhabitants of round 38 million, has 54 electoral votes, which is the best among the many 50 states.
Nevertheless, California’s continued help for Democratic candidates means its electoral votes are sometimes factored into Democratic and Republican methods from the beginning.
California, the Democratic stronghold, supported US President Joe Biden in 2020 by a large margin of 64% in comparison with Donald Trump’s 35%. Because the votes are counted, Harris is reported to have garnered about 59% of the vote.
The Democratic Social gathering additionally controls a majority of California Home seats, each Senate seats and the governorship, and has supermajorities in each chambers of the state legislature.
California can be Kamala Harris’ house state, the place she served as Lawyer Common and Senator.
UTTAR PRADESH IS TOO BIG TO BE IGNORED
Because the saying goes, “The path to Delhi passes via Uttar Pradesh.”
Uttar Pradesh, with 80 seats within the Lok Sabha, wields vital affect in India’s nationwide political sphere. As essentially the most populous state within the nation, Uttar Pradesh has the most important variety of seats within the Lok Sabha.
Subsequent on the listing is Maharashtra. Nevertheless, Maharashtra’s 48 Lok Sabha seats are a lot lower than UP’s 80.
This makes UP a vital battleground for any occasion aspiring to return to energy in New Delhi.
UP’s numerical superiority interprets into appreciable political affect, as profitable a considerable variety of these seats is commonly important for a celebration to realize a majority within the Lok Sabha.
HOW THE FATE OF MODI’S BJP HAS DECIDED
The significance of Uttar Pradesh to Indian politics was amply demonstrated within the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
The BJP’s lackluster results of simply 36 seats in Uttar Pradesh pressured the Modi-led occasion to depend on coalition math to cobble collectively a authorities within the Middle. That is in distinction to the 2019 and 2014 polls, when UP gave the BJP the numbers and confidence.
The BJP made Uttar Pradesh its electoral floor, and it was essential in its victories in 2019 and 2014, with Narendra Modi on the helm. In 2019, the BJP received 62 seats, and in 2014, the Modi surge ensured that the saffron occasion received a powerful 71 seats out of 80.
Moreover, the state’s dominance has been additional highlighted by the variety of chief ministers Uttar Pradesh hails from. A number of Indian Prime Ministers have roots within the state, together with Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, VP Singh and Chandra Shekhar.
Even the two-time CM of Gujarat Narendra Modi needed to come to Varanasi from UP to strive his luck as Prime Minister.
Whereas California’s predictable loyalty to Democrats makes it a dependable participant in US elections, Uttar Pradesh’s volatility ensures that whoever wins there might very properly win the nation.
Within the race for energy in India, UP is the place the actual recreation is received or misplaced. Within the case of American electoral politics, California, the UP of the US, doesn’t have a elementary position to play.
