Mayawati deploys all senior leaders to oversee 70 constituencies

This time, Mayawati is slated to address more rallies than she did in 2013. She is scheduled to address 14 rallies in Delhi from January 29 to February 4.

BSP general secretary and Leader of Opposition in UP Legislative Council, Naseemuddin Siddiqui, UP unit president Ram Achal Rajbhar, Rajya Sabha MP Munquad Ali, Orissa state in-charge Dharamvir Singh Ashok and other leaders have been given charge of assembly segments in each of the seven Lok Sabha constituencies of Delhi.

The BSP, which had won two seats in Delhi in the 2008 Assembly elections and polled over 14 per cent votes, could fetch only 5.35 per cent votes in the 2013 state elections. It could not win any seats in 2013 as most of its supporters sided with the Aam Aadmi Party.

Mayawati has tried to counter the AAP by claiming that the party is not good for Dalits and OBCs as AAP chief Arvind Kejriwal does not support reservation.

The party is also trying to rectify mistakes it made in the 2013 polls. It has re-inducted Surendra Kumar, who had won from Gokalpur in 2008 but contested as an independent in 2013 after being denied a ticket by BSP. Kumar had lost to BJP nominee by less than 2,000 votes while the BSP candidate had come fifth. Kumar is now set to contest from the same seat as BSP nominee, a party leader said. He added that BSP has approached another former MLA too, but he has refused to return to the party.

“All senior leaders have been given responsibility of overseeing the Assembly segments in one Lok Sabha constituency. We have been working hard for almost a year. All I can say is there will be surprising results this time,” Ram Achal Rajbhar told The Indian Express over phone from Delhi.