The decline of Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Celebration (BSP) within the political panorama of Uttar Pradesh and the nation continued on this Lok Sabha election because the social gathering failed to steer in a single seat.
The BSP had fielded candidates in 424 Lok Sabha seats throughout the nation, together with 79 in Uttar Pradesh.
In Uttar Pradesh, the place it had received 10 seats within the final Lok Sabha elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the social gathering was trailing at third or fourth place on many of the seats.
At 6 pm, the BSP’s vote share nationally stood at roughly 2 per cent, nearly half of its 2019 share.
In UP, the BSP’s vote share dropped to 9.38 per cent – a drop of over 3 proportion factors as in comparison with its 2022 Meeting elections vote share of 12.88 per cent. The social gathering had received just one Meeting seat.
That is the second time previously three a long time when the BSP has not received a single seat in a Lok Sabha election. In 2014, too, the social gathering couldn’t win a seat. The BSP had received 21 seats in 2009, 19 seats in 2004, 14 seats in 1999, 5 seats in 1998 and 11 seats in 1996.
Fails to get Muslim votes, once more
That is additionally the second time that the BSP’s bid to engineer a vote financial institution equation of Muslims and Dalits has failed. Within the 2022 UP Meeting elections, the BSP had fielded a most variety of Muslim candidates, however not a single one in every of them managed to win. The social gathering ended up profitable a single Meeting seat that yr.
On this Lok Sabha election, the BSP as soon as once more fielded probably the most variety of Muslim candidates in UP — 35 — in a bid to broaden her help base by combining Dalits and Muslim votes. Whereas Muslims represent about 20 per cent of the inhabitants within the state, Dalits kind 21 per cent.
This, nonetheless, led the Opposition alliance of the Samajwadi Celebration and Congress to accuse the BSP of being the “B-team” of the ruling BJP as they apprehended that by fielding Muslim candidates, Mayawati would make a dent within the INDIA bloc’s vote share, thereby benefitting the BJP.
However the traits instructed that the social gathering once more did not garner Muslim votes, and a piece of Dalit votes appears to have additionally drifted away from the BSP. Nearly all of the Muslim BSP candidates got here third of their respective constituencies.
Marketing campaign pitch and setback
Within the final two months, BSP chief Mayawati addressed over 40 rallies throughout the nation, together with round 30 rallies in UP. She additionally engaged her nephew Akash Anand, who she had declared as her successor within the social gathering, for campaigning and allowed him to work together with the media. However the social gathering’s marketing campaign acquired a setback final month when Mayawati eliminated Akash from the place of social gathering nationwide coordinator and her political successor, days after he was booked for “selling enmity” in his speech in Sitapur. Akash, who had been attacking the BJP in his rallies, curtailed his plans of campaigning and is at present remaining politically inactive.
The problem forward
The BSP’s poor efficiency on this Lok Sabha election is a serious setback for the social gathering forward of the 2027 Meeting polls in Uttar Pradesh. With the SP set to win over three dozen Lok Sabha seats, it has emerged as the only political pressure within the state which might problem the BJP. Any try by the BSP to win the help of anti-BJP votes from Muslims, Dalits, and OBCs will subsequently be fairly a difficult process.