BSP would have won more seats if polls were held ‘free and fair’: In first reaction after Bihar setback, Mayawati alleges attempts to defeat party’s sole winner

Congratulating her party leaders and workers in a social media post, she asked them to continue working in Bihar to fulfil the dream of B R Ambedkar and Kanshi Ram. She also alleged attempts to defeat BSP candidates using the local administration.

“Under the pretext of repeated vote counting, the local administration and all opposition parties united to make every possible effort to defeat the BSP candidate, but due to the brave party workers standing firm throughout, the opponent’s conspiracy could not succeed,” she wrote.

“If elections had been completely free and fair, the BSP would have certainly won many more seats, but that did not happen, so there is no need for the party members to be disheartened; rather, there is a need to continue working with even more preparations ahead,” she told party workers, asking them to remain committed.

Despite the setback in the Bihar polls, BSP leaders, however, claim to have achieved a respectable vote share in approximately 10 to 15 Assembly seats.

In Ramgarh, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD)’s Ajit Kumar came in third with 41,480 votes, while Prashant Kishor’s Jan Suraaj candidate Anand Kumar Singh came fourth with 4,426 votes.

In the 2020 Bihar elections, too, the BSP won just one seat, Chainpur. Its candidate, Mohd Zama Khan, defeated the BJP candidate. However, he later joined the Janata Dal (United) and became a minister in the Nitish Kumar Cabinet.