Why Mayawati favours a hung house after the 2024 Lok Sabha election
Mayawati’s mentor and late founder president of the BSP Kanshi Ram advocated “a lame governments that walked on crutches”
Lucknow: The national president of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Mayawai favours a coalition government at the Centre after the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections, which, she says, will be in the interest of the country as it will have the support of all the castes and communities.
Mayawati’s statement is in line with what her mentor and late founder president of the BSP Kanshi Ram who advocated “a lame governments that walked on crutches” as he believed the majority governments were despotic towards the Bahujan Samaj.
He often said, “Till our Bahujan Samaj is fully prepared to rule the country, we should render ‘kamjor’ (weak) governments and not ‘ mazboot’ (strong) ones”
Mayawati has taken a leaf out of his political book when she recently cautioned the members of INDIA (Indian National Development Inclusive Alliance), opposed to her induction in the opposition bloc, “to be careful of tomorrow’s political embarrassment as it cannot be predicted today who will need whom in the future”.
Data proves the BSP owes its growth to political crutches. Here are some facts:
The party was formed on April 14, 1984. It started its growth journey from 1989 but it paced up after 1993 alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the assembly elections.
1993 – The political shock
The leaders of the BSP-SP – Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav -- literally sent a shock wave across the political spectrum of the state by announcing an electoral alliance after several rounds of secret meetings. Prior to that Kanshi Ram had tried to tie-up with the Congress but the latter did not respond favourably.
As the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was riding high on the temple wave , after the demolition of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, both SP and BSP leaders were keen to find a winning electoral formula. The Samajwadi Party, founded in November 1992, was contesting its maiden election, while the BSP was still struggling to create political niche in the state. Its highest tally until then was 12 in a 425-member assembly in undivided state in 1991.
The BJP polled the highest number of 177 seats in a house of 425 but fell short of majority. No other party came forward to support the ‘untouchable’ BJP then.
The SP won 109 of 256 seats and BSP 67 of 164 seats contested. They formed the government by mustering outside support from the Congress and other parties. Though Mulayam became the chief minister, the shots were called by Kanshi Ram and Mayawati.
1995- Maya, the queen
The collapse of the coalition government dented Mulayam’s image. Mayawati, defining the reasons for their decision to ally and later break the alliance, said, “We wanted to unite the Bahujan Samaj under the leadership of someone from the Bahujan Samaj and second to checkmate the BJP’s growth on the temple issue. But the experiment failed because of Mulayam’s selfish politics”.
Mayawati, with the outside support of the BJP, became the first Dalit chief minister of the state. The coalition government fell on June 2, 1995 and she emerged as the chief minister next day on June 3. 1995. The government lasted four months in which BSP aggressively pushed its Dalit agenda much to the political discomfiture of the BJP.
Politically, while Mayawati became a national figure, the BSP became a party in demand.
Their vote percentage jumped from 11.12 % to 19.64 % in 1996.
Also Read: Ahead of 2024, SP reiterates stand against inclusion of BSP in INDIA
1996- The grand old party surrenders
The Congress led by PV Narsimha Rao and Sitaram Kesari decided to ally with Kanshi Ram, who bargained hard and contested 296 of the 425 assembly seats. Together they failed to cross the hundred mark as the Congress won 33 and BSP ended with 67. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi later described the Cong-BSP alliance as a complete sell out by his party.
The BSP leadership, however, was not disturbed as their vote percent went up from 11.11% in 1993 to 19.64 % in 1996.
Two months later, she dumped her pre-poll partner, the Congress to join hands with the BJP, the communal forces that they had vowed to decimate, to form the government.
The BSP-BJP leadership evolved a formula of governance by six-month rotation. Interestingly, the BJP, which had emerged as the single largest party in the 1996 polls but fell short of majority mark, agreed to Mayawati ruling the state the first six months while their temple hero waited at home for his turn. She did hand over power to Kalyan Singh but pulled the rug before the month ended. Later, the BJP formed the government by breaking parties, but later suffered from dissensions.
2002- BSP polled 23.06 % in a hung house
The elections threw a hung house with the SP emerging as the single largest party with 143 MLAs in a 403-member assembly. The state came under President’s rule but soon the BSP-BJP came together to form the government. This time, Maya was in a better bargaining position as she had about 98 members in the House as against BJP’s 88. Her vote percentage had also shot up to 23.19 % barely two percent less than Samajwadi Party. Mayawati again became the chief minister. But the mistrust between the two parties did more damage to the BJP as she fanned differences within its state unit. She resigned after 128 days of her rule in which she played to the gallery by constructing parks.
2007 – Gets majority by polling 23.06 %
She broke the 14-year-long coalition jinx with her party forming a majority government for full five years.
Five years later, the SP formed an independent government in 2012 and then the BJP in 2017. The BSP polled its highest -30.43 % in 2012. The decline started.
2019- Political foes join hands to BSP advantage
The two parties BSP and SP decided to ally for the Lok Sabha elections to check BJP’s winning spree. The BSP grew from 0 seat in 2014 to 10 in 2019 while the SP remained at five. Political experts believe she did not transfer her votes to the poll partner.
What does 2024 hold?
Now, once again the BSP awaits a fractured verdict in 2024 as some parties may want to propel a Dalit prime minister, a dream her party harbours. But now, she has a competitor in the Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge.
The BSP has increased its vote percentage from 2 % in 1989 Lok Sabha elections to about 20 % in 2019. It has grown from a regional to a recognised national party.
The party now needs a push as its vote percentage fell to 12.88 % in the 2022 assembly elections it contested without an ally.