The BSP’s selection of candidates reflects its attempt to doom the opposition group’s chances, but the Samajwadi Party, which emerged as the largest party in the state, and the Congress performed better in partnership with it, show that the Mayawati factor has lost its electoral appeal.
After failing in the 2014 general elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) won 10 of the 38 seats it contested under the alliance.
Becoming the second largest party, it polled over 19% of the votes and remained loyal to Mayawati almost throughout, thus maintaining its relevance in UP electoral politics, especially since it was considered as a transferable vote.
This time around, the BSP chief faces an uphill task as she has not only announced that she will contest the upcoming elections alone, but also some of her MLAs have walked away or shown signs of it. Besides, political opponents have also termed Mayawati’s party as the ‘B’ team of the saffron party, based on the public stand taken by her on various issues. In the recent Rajya Sabha elections, its sole MP Uma Shankar Singh’s vote for the BJP further highlighted the accusations.
The BSP’s major Dalit vote bank makes it relevant in the state’s electoral politics which sends a maximum of 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. Dalits constitute more than 20% of the electorate in UP. The BJP is trying to neutralize her influence by making another Dalit Baby Rani Maurya a chief minister of the state and bringing in Akhilesh Yadav as Chandra Sekhar Azad ‘Ravan’ to diminish Mayawati’s political influence.
The results show that Mayawati’s BSP has lost its relevance. Mayawati is neither part of the ruling NDA alliance nor the opposition INDIA coalition and has already decided to contest the upcoming elections alone.
The majority of its 10 MLAs have switched to either the BJP or some to the SP in the current polls. The BSP supremo has fielded new faces this time. BSP MP Ritesh Pandey (Ambedkarnagar) has already joined the BJP at the party headquarters in Delhi in the presence of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Brajesh Pathak, BJP state president Bhupendra Chaudhary and from the party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge, Baijayant Panda.
In his resignation letter to Mayawati, Pandey claimed that it had been a long time since he was called to attend party meetings nor was he able to establish any dialogue with leaders, although he attempted to meet Mayawati and other senior officials. leaders. With Pandey joining the BJP, four out of ten Lok Sabha MPs have either switched sides or made it clear that they are considering doing so.
Earlier this month, the SP had announced Afzal Ansari, BSP MP from Ghazipur, as its candidate for the seat in the Lok Sabha elections.
Danish Ali, BSP MP from Amroha, was suspended last year by Mayawati for speaking out in support of TMC MP Mahua Moitra.
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