No concrete steps have been taken by the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party to come together to pose a threat to the BJP in 2019.

Unlike Modi, who won the 2014 Lok Sabha elections in his name and has gone on to win successive state elections, creating an air of invincibility about him, Adityanath did not lead the poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh and was chosen as the chief minister afterwards.

Adityanath was also saddled with two deputy chief ministers, which took away from his authority. Like his two deputies, Adityanath chose to come into the state assembly through the Legislative Council route – he took oath as a member of the Legislative Council on Monday, instead of fighting a popular election, which would have added to hisstature.

The unique selling proposition of Adityanath, and one of the reasons why he was installed on the Lucknow gaddi, however, remains his perceived ability to polarise public opinion on Hindu-Muslim lines, be it via cow vigilantes, anti-Romeo squads, or the promise of a change in school syllabus, or something else. It is a tried and tested method used by the BJP to garner votes, which it can be expected to do again in 2019. But when he took over, and despite his track record, the people of Uttar Pradesh expected – and still expect – Adityanath to do more than that.