Maya first targets all 17 reserved seats

The party could win only two reserved seats — Lalganj and Misrikh — in the last LS polls. On the other hand,the SP,which had fielded all the candidates belonging to non-Chamar scheduled castes like Pasi,Dhobi and Balmiki,won 10 reserved seats.

A party leader said the BSP has fielded more candidates from the Pasi community this time and hopes to do better in the community’s strongholds. The re-induction of popular Pasi leader R K Chaudhary in the party after more than a decade will help the BSP extend its grip on Pasi votes,he said. Chaudhary has been fielded from Mohanlalganj.

The SP has often performed well in reserved category constituencies with the help of non-Chamar candidates and the party’s OBC and Muslim base votes. However,the BSP has struggled to get support for its SC candidates from other communities,thus leaving the candidate with only the party’s base votes. In the 2012 Assembly elections,the BSP had lost 70 of the 85 reserved seats while the SP had succeeded in winning 56 reserved seats.

Sources said Mayawati has tasked party’s Brahmin face Satish Chandra Misra,Muslim face Naseemuddin Siddiqui and OBC leader Swami Prasad Maurya to hold ‘bhaichara sammellan’ of their communities in these constituencies to gather support for party’s SC candidates. The schedules for these meets have been finalised for the next three months. The local level bhaichara committees have been constituted,they said.