NEW DELHI: In recent years, the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi have become a triangular contest between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), leaving no space for other national and regional parties, including Independents.
One such party is former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) In the last Lok Sabha election, the BSP registered only 1.1 per cent of the vote share. If the vote share is anything to go by, the BSP had failed to attract its main cadre, the Dalit voters.
The BSP vote share in 2014 general elections was just 0.1 per cent higher—1.2 per cent. In 2009 elections it bagged 5.3 per cent votes while 2.5 per cent vote shared was recorded in 2004 Lok Sabha polls.
Former leaders associated with the party say it had lost the public connection and are no longer present on the ground. Sanjay Kumar, who contested for the BSP from the East Delhi Lok Sabha Constituency in 2019, said that he received very little support from the party while campaigning.
“When I had contested for the Delhi assembly back in 1998, the then leader of the party, Kanshi Ram, had campaigned door-to-door alongside. This was no longer true under Mayawati. Candidates are left to their own devices,” Kumar said.
Another reason for the party’s declining fortunes is division within the Dalit community, which forms the core of the party’s voter base. “There is a major divide between Delhi’s Jatav and the Valmiki community. Both groups in general do not vote for candidates from the other side. I had suggested to Mayawati to give more representation to the Valmiki community, but she is surrounded entirely by Jatavs,” Kumar said.
“The BSP should seriously consider allying with other parties otherwise they have no future in Delhi,” he opined. For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had not announced its candidates if any, for Delhi seats. The party is not in alliance in Uttar Pradesh and contesting independently.