Elections to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly were held in 2002. Following a spell of 56 days of President's Rule from 3 March to 2 May 2002, Mayawati became Chief Minister on 3 May 2002 for the third time after the BJP extended support to the BSP. BJP state president Kalraj Mishra resigned, and was replaced by Vinay Katiyar, who thought up slogans like "Haathi nahin Ganesh hai, Brahma Vishnu Mahesh hai" to defend the alliance. But the problems kept mounting, and Mayawati resigned in August 2003.
On 29 August 2003, Mulayam Singh Yadav was sworn in as the Chief Minister with the support of BSP dissidents and ran the government until 2007. It is said that BJP leaders convinced Vajpayee that Yadav would help in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections — Mulayam did not, however, help, and while the NDA lost power at the centre. Some BJP leaders continue to believe that Mulayam would have been marginalised had he not been helped in 2003.
Parties and alliances
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested Bharatiya Janata Party Rajnath Singh 320 Rashtriya Lok Dal Chaudhary Ajit Singh 36+2 Janata Dal (United) Sharad Yadav 13+3 Samata Party George Fernandes 9 Lok Janshakti Party Ramvilas Paswan 8+10 Shakti Dal 5+9 Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress Naresh Chandra Agrawal 4+21
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested Indian National Congress Sonia Gandhi 402
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested Samajwadi Party Mulayam Singh Yadav 390Communist Party of India (Marxist)6Communist Party of India5
Party Flag Symbol Leader Seats contested Bahujan Samaj Party Mayawati 401
Results PartySeatsSamajwadi Party143Bahujan Samaj Party98Indian National Congress25Bharatiya Janata Party88Rashtriya Lok Dal14Communist Party of India (Marxist)2Janata Dal (United)2Akhil Bharat Hindu Mahasabha1Akhil Bharatiya Loktantrik Congress2 Apna Dal3National Loktantrik Party1Rashtriya Parivartan Dal1Rashtriya Kranti Party4Samajwadi Janata Party (Rashtriya)1Independent16Total403
Elected members