BSP ramps up poll campaign with 71 candidates

Tribune News Service

Neeraj Mohan

New Delhi, May 1

With 71 candidates already in the fray, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has significantly ramped up its election campaign. Led by former Chief Minister Mayawati, the party is carrying out a relentless crusade against the BJP, Congress and Samajwadi Party.

Initially, the BSP maintained a low profile during the first phase. However, following reports of confusing trends and a disappointing voter turnout, Mayawati, along with her nephew Akash Anand, swiftly pivoted to an intensive campaign strategy. Over the past week, they have embarked on a series of rallies, aiming to energise their support base and sway the undecided voters. Now Mayawati has intensified her tirade against the other parties.

Targets PM Modi

The food being given to the poor for free is not coming from PM Modi or BJP's pocket. It’s from the taxes you pay... The BJP will not return to power easily if elections are conducted fairly as it has failed to fulfil its commitment of ‘acche din’. —Mayawati, BSP leader

For the first time during these elections on Monday, Mayawati, addressing a rally at Budaun, attacked PM Narendra Modi over the free ration distribution scheme.

She said, “The little amount of food being given to you for free is not coming from Modi or BJP's pocket. It's from the taxes you pay."

She said the BJP would not return to power easily if the elections were conducted fairly as it had failed to fulfil its commitment of "acche din" to the poor and backward communities.

She also made an attempt to woo minority communities saying, "The condition of Muslims and other religious minorities in the country has become pitiable. Under the government of the BJP and the RSS, their development has almost come to a halt amid the dominance of religion and Hindu nationalism."

In the same breath, she also targeted the Congress. She said the party was facing ouster from the Centre and several states due to its anti-Dalit and anti-backward class policies. She accused the Samajwadi Party of giving the ticket on the basis of religion to divide Muslims and Hindus.

Initially, the BSP was tagged as BJP's "B-team" as it had fielded a majority of Muslim candidates for the first round of polling. Later, it fielded candidates in some key constituencies, changing the caste equations. This might disturb the prospects of the BJP on several seats in its stronghold of western Uttar Pradesh.

Analysis of the caste composition among the party's candidates on 71 seats, including all 16 in western UP, indicates a strategic move by Mayawati to disrupt the traditional votebank of both the NDA and the INDIA bloc.

Making the most of the brewing discontent among Thakur and Tyagi communities towards the BJP, the BSP fielded candidates to challenge the ruling party in various constituencies. In Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddha Nagar, it nominated Rajput candidates, aiming to tap into the dissatisfaction among Thakurs.

Similarly, in Meerut, a Tyagi candidate has been fielded to address grievances within the Tyagi community. In Muzaffarnagar, where the BJP's Sanjeev Balyan holds sway, Mayawati has played the OBC card by positioning a Prajapti candidate, leveraging the support of marginalised communities against BJP's dominance. In Bijnor, she has fielded an influential Jat candidate to counter the Gurjar pick of the BJP partner Rashtriya Lok Dal.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP sprung a surprise by winning 10 seats with over 19 per cent vote share, leaving the Samajwadi Party and the Congress far behind. It emerged as the second largest party after the BJP.

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