BSP to contest Assembly bypolls as BJP has made it a prestige fight: Mayawati
Says BJP trying to divert attention from inflation, unemployment by resorting to communal, casteist issues
4 min read
Bahujan Samaj Party supreemo Mayawati. (Express file photo by Vishal Srivastava)Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced that her party would contest the upcoming bypolls on 10 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh, saying the ruling BJP has made it a “prestige issue”. She also hit out at the BJP, saying its governments in UP and at the Centre have failed to check rising poverty, unemployment, inflation as well as backwardness.
“The date of the by-elections to the 10 Assembly seats that fell vacant in UP as a result of the Lok Sabha elections has not been officially announced. But the excitement regarding it is continuously increasing. People’s interest in these by-elections has increased significantly due to the ruling party BJP and its government making it a prestige issue. The BSP has also decided to field its candidates on all the 10 seats in these by-elections and fight with full force,” the BSP said in a statement.
The BSP, which used to avoid contesting bypolls, has of late started making exceptions. In 2019, after the Lok Sabha elections, the party had contested by-elections on 11 Assembly seats, but ended up losing its sitting seat and saw the party’s vote share dip.
At a meeting with senior office bearers of the party, Mayawati is learnt to have said: “There is tremendous resentment among the public due to failure of the BJP government at the Centre and the state (UP) in stopping rising poverty, unemployment, inflation as well as backwardness. In order to divert attention of the public, the government is engaging in destructive bulldozer politics or is creating new controversies surrounding caste or religion.” She was referring to the UP government’s decision to amend the anti-conversion law by making it more stringent and the recent decision of the Supreme Court allowing the states to make sub-classifications within Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The new anti-conversion law, attempt to divide the SC-ST community with creamy layer concept, refusal to do caste-based census and forceful intervention in operation of masjid and madarsas are attempts made by the BJP governments to divert attention, she added, according to a statement issued by the BSP.
“While the people no longer blindly trust the intentions and policies of the BJP government, the BSP should continue to make its efforts to win back the trust of the people on its policy and principle of ‘Bahujan Hitaya and Bahujan Sukhaay’, which is beneficial to the poor and whose electoral benefits are also obvious,” the BSP chief added.
Mayawati said the “hasty decision” taken by the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government in UP for trying to enact a law on Nazul land “has created an atmosphere of chaos in the entire state”.
“At the same time, in the matters regarding giving government land on lease, malice, and bias have started coming to the fore, which has led to uneasiness and opposition within the BJP itself,” she claimed.
Amid internal rifts in the BJP and its allies, the UP Nazul Properties Bill, which was passed by the Assembly, was sent to a select committee by the Legislative Council.
As per the Bill, Nazul land – land owned by the government but often not directly administered as state property — in the state can no longer be converted into private ownership.
The by-elections on 10 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh are due as MLAs from nine seats won the Lok Sabha elections and vacated their Assembly membership. One Assembly seat fell vacant following the conviction of the sitting MLA. The 10 Assembly seats are Sisamau, Katehri, Kundarki, Milkipur, Karhal (all won by SP in 2022 Assembly polls); Khair, Phulpur and Ghaziabad (won by BJP); Manjhwa (won by NISHAD Party) and Meerapur in Muzaffarnagar (won by RLD).
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