BSP plans to wrest seats from BJP in UP by-polls

LUCKNOW: The BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), a former ruling dispensation of Uttar Pradesh, is eyeing the comeback trail by wresting a few seats from the ruling BJP in the upcoming by-polls for seven Assembly seats in the state.

The Mayawati-led BSP is relying on its tried and tested formula of social engineering for this. Prominent party leaders were given the responsibility of selecting the candidates, who have been fielded after much deliberation for all the seven assembly constituencies.

A BSP leader said the party's top leaders have been entrusted with the responsibility of chalking out the strategy to regain the BSP's hold over several assembly seats. Looking at the past results, the seats where the by-elections will be held have been the strongholds of the BSP. Be it Ghatampur, Bangermau, Bulandshahr — all these seats have been won by the BSP at least once or twice.

The party will not take much time to work out its political permutations and combinations. However, this time the party has decided all candidates with a winnability factor in mind. The current political atmosphere in the state under the BJP led-Yogi Adityanath government is reportedly forcing people to have a relook at the previous gevernance record of the BSP.

Apart from the BSP's National General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, state President Munkad Ali, MPs and MLAs are also focusing their attention on the by-elections. BSP supporters from different sections of society have started planning the political strategies for the various constituencies going to the polls.

Political analysts said that during the 2017 assembly elections, the BSP had won only 19 seats securing the third position which had dampened the morale of the party workers. The party wants to compensate for that poll defeat during these by-elections. It will be a big opportunity for the BSP and will likely impact the results in the 2022 assembly elections.

Senior political analyst Rajiv Srivastava says the BSP has been away from power since 2012. As the the BJP has been trying to strengthen its position by targeting all castes, it should be a priority for the BSP that its loyal voters stick with the party.

It will have to be seen how many votes from other communities, apart from the Dalits, the BSP can attract this time as the party was successful in social engineering for votes in 2007. How many Dalit voters are still with the BSP and to what extent Mayawati succeeds in wooing voters from other communities holds the key to the perty'ssuccess. (IANS)

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