Mayawati’s BSP faces uphill battle in UP amid three-way fight with NDA, INDIA bloc
Division of minority votes looms as BSP and INDIA bloc members vie for support; party faces potential defections.
LUCKNOW: The recently announced seat-sharing agreement between the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress presents challenges for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, as it navigates a triangular contest in Uttar Pradesh against the NDA and INDIA bloc for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
The opposition alliance has designated 63 Lok Sabha seats for the SP and other constituent parties, while Congress will contest 17 Lok Sabha seats.
On February 19, the BSP President dismissed rumours of allying ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and asserted that her party will contest the elections on its own. However, the party’s conspicuous absence from poll buzz is making its sitting MPs doubtful of their prospects and hence they are
exploring options.
Afzal Ansari, the sitting BSP MP from Ghazipur, now figures in the list of SP candidates from the same seat considered to be his traditional stronghold.
Similarly, Danish Ali, the MP from Amroha, is likely to join the Congress after being suspended from the BSP following his fracas in Parliament with BJP lawmaker Ramesh Bidhuri, who hurled communal slurs at Ali.
Ali—suspended by the BSP for alleged “anti-party activities”—has been actively nurturing his constituency of Amroha, allocated to Congress in the seat-sharing arrangement.
In the present scenario, Mayawati faces the challenge of repeating her party’s previous performance.
In 2019, the BSP had contested the general elections in alliance with the SP and the Jayant Chaudhury-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), reaping the maximum benefits by winning 10 seats.
However, in 2014, the BSP failed to open its account in general elections.
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