BSP throws down the gauntlet, to contest all seats

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday said her party would be a “major force to reckon with” in the upcoming assembly elections and form the next government in Delhi.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday said her party would be a “major force to reckon with” in the upcoming assembly elections and form the next government in Delhi.

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“There will be no tie-up for the Delhi Assembly elections. Our party will field candidates in all the 70 seats. We will announce the candidates’ list in the next 10-12 days,” Mayawati said.

Speaking at a meeting of her party leaders and workers to “motivate” them, Mayawati urged them to campaign aggressively against the Congress’ misrule in Delhi.

The convention took place at the same Talkatora Stadium where the BJP held a minority and Dalit convention a few weeks ago and the Congress launched the food security programme.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister tried to woo the migrant population from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar and said both the Congress and the BJP had given them a step-motherly treatment.

The migrant population living in slums, illegal and resettlement colonies has been the biggest vote bank for the BSP.

Mayawati said her party would sit on a dharna at the offices of the 14 districts of Delhi from September 16.

“We will protest on issues such as inflation, corruption and deteriorating law and order during the Congress’ rule in the past 15 years in Delhi,” said party’s election in-charge Ram Achal Rajbhar.

The BSP is not new to Delhi’s political arena. The party got 14% votes in the 2008 assembly elections and won two seats. In the 2012 civic polls, it won 15 seats in the three municipal corporations and got nearly 10% of the total votes polled.