Not many eyebrows were raised in political circles when the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) appointed Bhim Rajbhar as its new state party chief.
The step came after the BSP failed to win any seat in the recent by-elections to seven assembly seats and its vote share went down to 18.97% now against 22.23% in the 2017 assembly elections.
The BSP’s move to appoint a backward leader replacing Munkad Ali is also an indication towards the strategy that major opposition parties may attempt to follow as they prepare for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Major political parties including the Bharatiya Janata Party, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress have a backward leader each as its state president and the BSP’s move is in consonance with them.
Will the BSP be able to bring the focus back on the politics of the backward and the Dalits ahead of 2022 polls? “Yes, the BSP and all other parties are trying to bring the focus back on the backward classes after trying all other options. They (opposition parties) tried to woo the upper castes and fielded Brahmin candidates in Deoria. The BJP won Deoria, as it has been working for the upper caste community. Others are paying only lip service,” said Om Prakash Rajbhar, former minister and Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party leader, who formed the Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha of smaller parties in 2019. The SBSP now claims about bringing eight smaller parties together. It proposes to rope in leaders like Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar and others into the fold of Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha. The Bhim Army chief’s recent utterances blaming the BSP for “weakening the Bahujan moment” give an indication of the political scenario that may unfold ahead of the 2022 polls.
“We are in touch with Bhim Army and some other parties. We have our options open. The political parties have regrouped in the past and will do so ahead of the 2022 polls too. We have brought eight smaller parties together. These include (the parties of) Babu Singh Kushwaha (Jan Adhikar Party), Krishna Patel (Apna Dal), Prem Chandra Prajapati (Bhagidari Aandolan Manch), Baburam Pal (Rashtriya Udai Party), Ram Sagar Bind (Bharat Mata Party), Ram Karan Kashyap (Bharatiya Vanchit Samaj Party) and Anil Chauhan (Janata Kranti Party). These parties have at least two lakh votes in each constituency and will make the difference,” said Rajbhar who broke away from the BJP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
{{/usCountry}}“We are in touch with Bhim Army and some other parties. We have our options open. The political parties have regrouped in the past and will do so ahead of the 2022 polls too. We have brought eight smaller parties together. These include (the parties of) Babu Singh Kushwaha (Jan Adhikar Party), Krishna Patel (Apna Dal), Prem Chandra Prajapati (Bhagidari Aandolan Manch), Baburam Pal (Rashtriya Udai Party), Ram Sagar Bind (Bharat Mata Party), Ram Karan Kashyap (Bharatiya Vanchit Samaj Party) and Anil Chauhan (Janata Kranti Party). These parties have at least two lakh votes in each constituency and will make the difference,” said Rajbhar who broke away from the BJP ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
{{/usCountry}}As various attempts to work out new political equations and caste combinations, including the SP-BSP’s Maha Gathbandhan in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, have failed to work, questions are being raised about the workability of such strategy in future.
“An alternative model of development and governance is what the political parties need to focus on to counter the BJP, instead of attempting to work out new political equations and caste combinations,”said SK Dwivedi, former head of department of Lucknow University’s political science department.