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BSP to go solo in UP, U’khand and Punjab polls: Mayawati
BSP chief reviews party’s preparations, tells party leaders from Punjab that party can give hope to the people of the state, who are unhappy by anti-people attitudes of the ruling AAP
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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday said her party will contest the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab on its own strength.
“BSP will go solo in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, and Punjab in the 2027 assembly election to prevent the BSP from losing party members’ morale due to potential losses in seats and vote percentages from electoral alliances,” she said.
Mayawati made the announcement while reviewing the progress of preparations for the assembly elections expected early next year in a meeting with party office-bearers of the three states at her Lucknow residence.
She told party leaders from Punjab that the BSP can give hope to the people of the state, who are unhappy and distressed by the anti-people attitudes of the ruling Aam Aadmi Party as well as other parties like the Congress and the BJP.
The BSP went solo in the 2022 assembly election in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, it went for alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD). in Punjab. The alliance worked to consolidate rural, farmer, and Dalit voter bases after SAD split from the NDA.
In Punjab, the BSP fielded candidates on 20 assembly seats while SAD contested on 97 seats. The party secured victory on one seat, polling 1.77% of the votes, while SAD bagged three seats, polling 18.38% of the votes. The BSP severed its alliance with the SAD on February 13, 2024, ahead of the last Lok Sabha election.
In UP, the BSP contested the 2022 assembly polls on its own and faced its worst electoral debacle since its launch in 1984. Mayawati fielded candidates on all 403 seats but managed to win merely one, polling 12.88% votes while the party candidates forfeited their deposits in 287 seats. After the demise of its lone MLA Umashankar Singh from the Rasra seat in Ballia, the party has no representation in the assembly.
In Uttarakhand too, the BSP fielded candidates on 54 seats out of 70 and won 2 seats, polling 4.82% votes, while its candidate lost their deposits on 49 seats.
In Tuesday’s review meeting, Mayawati directed party leaders to strengthen the organisation up to the booth level and stressed the need to field hardworking and honest candidates in the upcoming assembly elections.
“Full preparations must be made to achieve better results in the upcoming assembly election. We should boldly confront the opposition’s tactics of coercion, bribery, punishment, and discrimination,” she said.
Moreover, Mayawati also asked party leaders, office-bearers and workers to donate to the party coffer on the occasion of her birthday that will be celebrated as ‘People’s Welfare Day’ on January 15 next year. The financial support must be better than the last time for taking the Ambedkarite caravan and the BSP movement forward, she said.
Besides, the BSP chief directed party leaders to start preparations for a massive show of strength on the occasion of the death anniversary of party founder Kanshi Ram on October 9.
