Its seniors fear Maya may get cosy with Congress

In these states, the BSP’s presence in MP is its strongest. The party has a foothold in Rewa, Satna, Gwalior, Bhind, Morena, Tikamgarh, Indore and Ujjain districts. With a nine per cent vote-share in composite MP, the BSP won nine seats and undermined Congress in most areas.

Rajasthan comes next. The BSP has a sizeable base in Bharatpur, Dholpur, Alwar and Dausa districts. Its candidate was elected to the Assembly from Bharatpur district in the last elections. In Chhattisgarh, the BSP is not as strong, but it has pockets of influence in 22 constituencies. Thanks to its vicinity to UP, Delhi has seen consistent spadework by the BSP in the 17 reserved constituencies.

The BSP, according to BJP sources, is not in a position to win many seats, but it can affect the fortunes of the Congress and BJP. The worst scenario, BJP sources visualise, is a secret pact between BSP and Congress, under which the two parties fix their quotas and select their nominees in a manner that they end up complimenting each other.

Sources suspect Mayawati may go to any extent now to settle scores with BJP. However, much will depend on the Congress attitude towards Mayawati in UP. If the party maintains a distance from Yadav, the BSP leader may cosy up to the Congress. If the party goes the whole hog with Yadav, BJP worries may prove shortlived.

While Mayawati is on the offensive, the BJP response is restrained. As she claimed the BJP leadership had sought her help to withdraw cases against party leaders named in the Babri Masjid case, BJP general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said: ‘‘Her claim demonstrates her sense of insecurity and desperation. She is squarely responsible for Mulayam Singh Yadav’s return to power. He is back because of her immaturity and arrogance.’’ BJP spokesman Prakash Javadekar said: ‘‘She is, in fact, levelling allegations by the day. They have no credibility.” The party obviously does not want to engage Mayawati.