The BSP, once the dominant force in Uttar Pradesh, has become a victim of its rigid work and lack of enterprise.
During a rare interaction with the media on 23 December, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati was asked why she still had not stepped out and held rallies for the February-March Uttar Pradesh elections, while her The main opponents had already hit. The land is moving. She responded dismissively that her rivals were going ahead with public rallies because they were “worried”. Mayawati said that BSP workers are busy working at the booth level. And whenever she plans to hold rallies, she will inform the media. His answer, though not surprising, offers a glimpse of his fading relevance in the everyday power politics of UP, a kind of self-incrimination.
defection, rebellion, dismissal
This election for BSP it will contest aloneIt’s less about coming to power and more about staying relevant. This is a remarkable fall for the party that, In 2007, achieved a historic majority on its own. Providing fourth term to the first Dalit woman Chief Minister of the state. since 2012, when Ms. Mayawati accepted power But she faced repeated electoral ups and downs, trailing the Samajwadi Party (SP) by just 3.2% of the vote. In 2016-17, Ms. Mayawati was forced to play the idealistic Dalit-Muslim card after the BJP took over her Other Backward Class (OBC) party. Though he got 22% votes, BSP won only 19 seats, Huge majority of 306 behind victorious NDA alliance in the 403-member assembly. The BSP has been ravaged by defection, rebellion and random dismissals, its rigidity, political inconsistency, erratic changes in messaging and unwillingness to innovate or form smart alliances.
In the past six months, Ms. Mayawati has had to appoint new leaders twice in the Assembly, as the previous ones had shamefully left the party. A similar exodus was seen before the 2017 election, when several prominent leaders, including Swami Prasad Maurya, a prominent backward caste face, resigned accusing Mayawati of auctioning tickets. This time, the rebellion has been quiet but equally damaging as the BSP has no sign of remaining secondary leadership. Many leaders such as Lalji Verma and Ram Achal Rajbhar, who have stuck to the BSP’s movement through thick and thin, have switched to the rival SP, leaving the BSP devoid of charismatic faces or caste leaders other than Ms. Mayawati herself. In fact, out of 19 of 2017, only three MLAs are with him today.
Ms. Mayawati’s lack of communication, over-reliance on meaningless arithmetic, her hatred of agitational politics, and failure to address the concerns of Dalits and OBCs, even when the BJP has projected her issues on a platter, have kept her out of the discourse. Is done. Barring a few customary appearances and tweets, she is missing from the public eye, not even attempting to reach out to her native constituency or console the victims, as in the Hathras case or 2018 During the Bharat Bandh. Weakening the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Act.
While Narendra Modi, Yogi Adityanath, Akhilesh Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra are leading in their respective campaigns, Ms. Mayawati still relies on her Brahmin lieutenant Satish Chandra Mishra to address public meetings and tour the state. Mr. Mishra has not only added elements of Hindutva politics to the BSP’s pitch, which is heavily focused on Brahmin appeasement, but also of Ms. Mayawati’s nephew and Mr. Mishra’s son, wife and son-in-law coming together at the center in this campaign. Also, today the BSP is increasingly looking like a party ruled by two families. It is far away from the organization run by Kanshi Ram.
running for samajwadi party
So Mayawati’s absence and her OBC-Dalit narrative have been ‘blunted’.good for all, happiness for all (good for all, happiness for all)’, his version of ‘Everybody’s company will help in everybody’s growth (Support for all, development for all)’, that Mr. Yadav sought to embrace the vacant Bahujan space to expand his reach among OBCs and Dalits, including his loyal and hitherto impregnable Jatav base, Which is 12-13% of the population. , Apart from the fading nostalgia for the decent law and order situation of its previous regime, the BSP’s pitch has little to deliver in an already crowded space.
Read also | BSP will not go with BJP to form government. In UP, says Satish Chandra Mishra
Ms. Mayawati may retain a large part of her traditional vote base due to caste affiliation and strategic candidate distribution. But his weak, acrimonious approach to caste arithmetic without a larger narrative, his growing affinity with non-Jatav voters and his reluctance to take a clear position against the ruling party has given way to the possibility that a section of his electorate may go astray. . SP. For these reasons, the BSP remains a factor in the 2022 elections, but not a contender. In a polarized contest between Mr Yadav and Mr Adityanath, a hung assembly seems to be his best bet.
Umar Rashid@thehindu.co.in
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