The BSP won 19 seats in the 2017 assembly elections, but a few months before the 2022 elections, only three members could stand for the party in the assembly – Uma Shankar Singh (Rasra), Azad Ali Mardan (Lalganj) and Shyam Sundar. Sharma (month).
In the past two years, party president Mayawati has suspended or expelled most of her MLAs for anti-party activities, with Chilupar MLA Vinay Shankar Tiwari being the latest.
While party sources said they are worried about the timing of the exit – exactly when the BSP needed everyone on deck to put up a strong fight BJP Officially, the BSP – and a resurgent SP – says the action is part of Mayawati’s no-compromise stance on indiscipline and will not harm the party.
BSP spokesperson MH Khan said, “Mayawati ji made her a leader of stature, otherwise she has no personal power and followers.” Hence, his expulsion or decision to leave the BSP will not affect our prospects in the upcoming elections.
It all started in 2016 with the exit of Swami Prasad Maurya, who is considered the strongest leader in the party after Mayawati and a prominent OBC face. Maurya, who joined the BJP, is now a cabinet minister in the Yogi Adityanath government.
Days after her defeat in the 2017 election, Mayawati expelled the Muslim face of the BSP, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, on charges of anti-party activities. Later Siddiqui joined the Congress.
Two sitting MLAs and prominent OBC leaders, Ram Achal Rajbhar and Lalji Verma, were also expelled and are now with the SP.
Then there is gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari and five-time MLA, who is lodged in Banda jail. As part of her decision to deny tickets to Baahubali (muscle) and mafia, Mayawati has announced that she will not be fielded in the upcoming elections.
Besides these expulsions and suspensions, further adding to the uncertainty in the organisation, Mayawati’s decision to change the state unit party presidents – four times in the last five years. In 2018, the then state president Ram Achal Rajbhar was replaced with RS Kushwaha, who in turn was replaced with Munkad Ali in 2019. Again a year later, Mayawati appointed Bhim Rajbhar as the state chief.
A senior party leader said the changes took effect when those in power “began to believe that they had become leaders of tall stature” and asked district-level workers to organize a grand reception for them.
Party sources say exit does not matter as Mayawati is the only decision-making force.
Despite this endless churning in the party organisation, Mayawati seems to have a strategy for the elections.
Confident of having the support of her native Jatav constituency, Mayawati is trying to expand her reach to the upper castes, especially Brahmins and Muslims.
National General Secretary SC Mishra, the most prominent leader in the party after Mayawati and a prominent Brahmin face, has been organizing enlightened class conferences specifically aimed at the Brahmin community.
While the party has tried a Dalit-Brahmin formulation in the 2017 election—the two communities together have a 36 per cent vote share—this time, Mayawati is reaching out to Jats and Muslims and deploying leaders of these communities in western UP. Huh. SP’s theftRashtriya Lok Dal(RLD) Rumble.
For now, Mayawati is focusing on the state’s 86 reserved constituencies (84 for SCs and two for STs), where she has a strong base and believes a fraternity among castes in the BSP’s seats. can increase. Out of 84 SC seats, the BSP won only three in the 2017 assembly elections and 15 in 2012.
Though Mayawati has been out of power in UP for over a decade, party insiders pointed to vote share in successive elections, saying the BSP is still a force to be reckoned with. While the vote share of the party in the 2007 assembly elections, when it won an absolute majority with 206 seats, was 30.43 per cent, it declined to 25.95 per cent (80 seats) in 2012. But even in the 2017 elections, when the party won 19 seats, its vote share stood at 22.23 per cent. In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, in which the party contested in alliance with the SP and the RLD, the party won 10 seats with a vote share of 19.42 per cent.
In an election where the stakes are high for the BSP and its chief, Mayawati makes another debut – for a party that never releases pre-poll manifestos, she has released a folder of works done by earlier BSP governments. and directed to distribute it to the party workers. In every village and town across the state, a message has been sent that if BSP returns to power in 2022, their government will work for development and public welfare. She has also started an outreach program targeting women and youth.
,