BJP president J.P. Nadda on Friday celebrated the victory of party candidates in the Assembly by-elections in Tripura and Uttarakhand, hailing them as “approval for the double-engine government under the guidance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi”, but maintained silence on the crushing defeat in Ghosi in Uttar Pradesh, seen as the leader of the much-touted model.

The BJP lost the Ghosi Assembly seat by a margin of over 42,000 votes to the Samajwadi Party, a constituent of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc. The defeat was seen as a big blow to the ruling party’s “double-engine” arrangement.

“Double-engine” is a phrase used by the BJP to pitch for the same party government at the Centre and in the state, claiming it ushers in “double growth”.

Uttar Pradesh, the most politically crucial state with 80 Lok Sabha seats, is known for the “Modi-Yogi” model of government. Prime Minister Modi is a Lok Sabha MP from Varanasi while Adityanath, a firebrand Hindutva face, is chief minister.

By-elections to seven Assembly seats spread across six states were held on September 5 and the votes were counted on Friday. It was the first electoral test after the battlelines were drawn between the BJP and the Opposition INDIA bloc.

Although the by-election results can’t be used to judge the emerging BJP-vs-INDIA battle, the saffron party’s defeat in Uttar Pradesh did hold a lot of significance.

“The result shows the people’s approval of the developmental works carried out by our double-engine government under the guidance of Hon. PM Shri @narendramodi Ji,” Nadda posted on X to celebrate the victory of party candidates in two seats in BJP-ruled Tripura. He thanked the people of Tripura for reposing faith in Modi’s “resolve for a developed prosperous Northeast”.

Nadda hailed Modi’s guidance for the victory in BJP-ruled Uttarakhand, but chose reticence on the Uttar Pradesh verdict.

The BJP candidate in Ghosi was Dara Singh Chauhan, a prominent backward caste leader who had won as a Samajwadi Party candidate just over a year ago when the Assembly polls were held in the state. Chauhan crossed over to the BJP recently and resigned from the seat.

Insiders said Chauhan was welcomed into the BJP by the central leadership led by home minister Amit Shah in the hope that the leader would sway the backward voters towards the party in the Lok Sabha polls next year.

Chauhan and another backward leader, Om Prakash Rajbhar, were taken in despite opposition from Adityanath, the sources said.

“On the face of it, the result in Gosi might appear as a setback for Adityanath, but actually it’s a defeat of the BJP’s central leadership,” a BJP leader said.