Boost party financially ahead of 2024 LS polls: Mayawati to BSP workers

In the recent urban local body elections, the BSP won only 85 seats of corporators in the municipal corporations. A total of 16 candidates of the party were elected as chairpersons and 191 were elected as ward members in nagar palika parishad and 37 candidates were elected as chairperson and 215 members in nagar panchayats. The number of the party’s seats have decreased in comparison to the 2017 civic elections, when the BSP had also won two mayor seats.

“The party president has asked us to prepare for the Lok Sabha elections by strengthening the party organisation. She has given special focus on the strengthening of the booth committees. Also, the party has to strengthen the committees of sector units, assembly segment units and district units,” said a senior party leader after the meeting.

That leader added that the party would ensure at least 50 per cent representation of youths in all the organisational committees. The party will soon identify the inactive leaders and workers of the organisations and they will be replaced with active and youth workers to give a pace to party activities for Lok Sabha polls

Mayawati once again advocated for the use of ballot papers in place of EVMs in civic polls and said that if ballot papers were used instead of EVMs in the mayoral elections, the results would have been different. Mayawati also said that BSP was defeated in the mayoral elections in Agra and Saharanpur through a “conspiracy.”

In the mayoral elections, the BJP defeated the BSP by a margin of 8,031 votes in Agra and by 1.08 lakh votes in Saharanpur. The BJP also won another 15 mayor seats.

Mayawati alleged that the BJP government tried to manage and manipulate the urban local body polls and also the reservation of seats for OBCs and women.

According to a BSP release, Mayawati in the meeting said that UP public wants the change to get rid of poverty and remove backwardness of the state and the BSP will have to come forward as a right and meaningful alternative of “power change”.

Mayawati appealed to the party people to strengthen the party financially too for running the party organisation, party offices and elections related expenses.

“BSP contested the local body polls with full dedication. Now, party is going to shift its focus on the preparations of 2024 Lok Sabha elections,” said a party leader.