BSP to go it alone in all elections across country, reiterates Mayawati
LUCKNOW: Spelling out the party’s electoral strategy, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawati made it clear that the BSP would contest all elections across the country on its own.
While interacting with media persons on the occasion of her birthday, the BSP chief said the party would go solo in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections as well, and there should be no confusion on this issue.
On alliances, Mayawati said a positive decision could be considered in the future only if caste-based parties abandoned casteist thinking and were able to transfer upper-caste votes to the BSP.
However, she said this would take years, and until such a change happened, the BSP would not think of alliances.
Meanwhile, chaos broke out during a press conference which was being addressed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati when a short circuit occurred in a ceiling light at the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) office in Lucknow.
Sparks were seen and the hall quickly filled with smoke here on Thursday.
Party workers present in the conference hall panicked as the situation unfolded. Security personnel immediately stepped in and used fire extinguishers to bring the situation under control.
The press conference was called off soon after.
Mayawati left the venue without cutting the cake and without taking questions from the media persons.
Earlier, the BSP chief had made a strong statement on a recent meeting of BJP’s Brahmin legislators. She said the Brahmin community did not need “bati-chokha” from anyone but wanted respect.
She added that if the BSP came to power, the aspirations of the Brahmin community would be fulfilled. She also cautioned Brahmins not to fall for the influence of the Congress, BJP or the Samajwadi Party.
It may be recalled that after the BJP Brahmin lawmakers’ meeting, which was a much-talked about event in the political circles last month, the SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his uncle Shivpal Yadav had offered the MLAs to leave the BJP and join the SP where they would get much respect.
BSP chief’s remarks came in the backdrop of a meeting of BJP’s Brahmin MLAs held during the Assembly session last month.
BJP’s state president Pankaj Chaudhary had expressed displeasure, calling the meeting a violation of party discipline. He had said he spoke to the MLAs individually and would take action.
On the other, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav had also taken a dig at the BJP. Referring to a New Year gathering, he remarked that BJP MLAs were sitting and eating litti-chokha, and questioned what would happen if they turned against the government.
He sarcastically added that the BJP was now even investigating bati-chokha.
She alleged that the BJP, Congress and SP were using every possible tactic to weaken the BSP.
A strong response was necessary, she said, and bringing the party to power in Uttar Pradesh was essential. She asserted that the people wanted the BSP in power and the party would leave no stone unturned in the upcoming elections.
Political analysts point out that although Brahmins constitute around 11–12 per cent of Uttar Pradesh’s population, they play a decisive role in nearly 30 districts.
In the 2022 Assembly elections, the BJP received about 89 per cent of Brahmin votes. The BSP had successfully used a Brahmin–Dalit social engineering formula in 2007 to come to power with a full majority under Mayawati.
However, shifts in political alignment over the years saw Brahmin voters moving from the BSP to the SP in 2012 and later backing the BJP in 2017, when the party formed a full-majority government with significant Brahmin representation in the Assembly.