‘Jignesh Mevani is promising but no match for Mayawati’

BSP chief Mayawati’s decision to align with the Samajwadi Party for the twin UP bypolls turned out to be a master-stroke.
‘Jignesh Mevani is promising but no match for Mayawati’

NEW DELHI: BSP chief Mayawati’s decision to align with the Samajwadi Party for the twin UP bypolls turned out to be a master-stroke. Did she do so to keep the BJP at bay or was it a way of resurrecting her political fortunes? Chandra Bhan Prakash, Dalit commentator and adviser to the Dalit Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, shares his thoughts with The Sunday Standard.

What is the reason for the BSP’s declining electoral fortunes and voter base?
It would be wrong to say that Mayawati has not retained her voter base. If you see in Uttar Pradesh, she secured 22 per cent votes in the last Lok Sabha polls and that is the population of Dalits in the state. The BJP has been spreading lies that the Dalits voted for them. If the Dalits voted for them, who voted for the BSP? But Mayawati needs to be careful to hold on to her voter base as new leaders might emerge from UP or some other place and dent her vote base.

Have new Dalit faces like Jignesh Mevani robbed the BSP of the status of being the only Dalit political face?
Mayawati is still the lone Dalit face in Uttar Pradesh. Jignesh Mevani is a promising young man but he is no match for her. He and the likes of him still have a long way to go before they can start eroding her vote base.Has the exit of big leaders like Swami Prasad Maurya from the BSP led to its diminishing electoral success?
This is a completely different issue. During the last elections, the voters in UP were vertically divided. The upper castes and OBCs chose to go with the BSP. Though Mayawati retained her core vote base of Dalits, it unfortunately did not translate into seats.What is the road ahead for Mayawati? Should she forge an alliance to stay relevant in state/national politics?

If the BSP and SP manage to forge an alliance, both Akhilesh and Mayawati will become important players in the national scenario. Winning 70 of 80 seats on offer in Uttar Pradesh will not be an impossible task by taking the Congress and other smaller units like CPI, CPI(M) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal on board. Similar alliances need to be stitched in other parts to keep the BJP at bay. 

The SP-BSP alliance is being termed fragile. What if it does not last?
This is not the first time that the two parties have tied up. In fact, the last time they came together in 1992 was when there was a rise in Hindutva politics. The situation is the same now. They need to find a working formula to keep the BJP at bay. In Mayawati’s case, it is the question of her future. If the alliance collapses, she is staring at a very bleak future for herself and her party.

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