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Journalism of Courage
While other Opposition parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress have asked their workers to be extra-vigilant during the counting of votes in the Lok Sabha elections on Tuesday, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) appeared to be relaxed.
The Congress has set up a control room for monitoring the counting, and the SP has released 10 mobile phone numbers for the workers and leaders to inform them in case of any ‘discrepancy’. They have also asked party workers to ensure their presence at counting centres until their winning candidates receive a certificate of victory.
Unlike the top leaders of the BJP and Congress who are making claims to win the majority and their workers preparing for celebrations, the BSP’s workers are patiently waiting for the results and party leaders are abstaining from making any direct allegation about the administration.
BSP leaders also refused to talk about the number of seats they were expecting to win. “Our expectations mean nothing. The public’s decision is locked inside machines (EVMs). Whatever will be the public’s decision that will come out very soon,” said Vishwanath Pal, BSP’s Uttar Pradesh president.
On the exit polls giving a maximum of one seat to the party in Uttar Pradesh, Pal said, “We are not concerned about exit polls. We contested the election with our complete strength.”
Pal also said a conflict with the administration would yield nothing and would not change the results. “But we have also asked the counting agents to keep a watch and keep checking that any discrepancy does not happen. Because possibilities of discrepancy prevail. You have seen the results in Chandigarh (mayor elections earlier this year) and they (BJP) also won a Lok Sabha seat (Surat) unopposed,” he said.
Pal also said the results of the Lok Sabha elections will decide the future of the BSP as well as other political parties.
On the eve of counting day, SP president Akhilesh Yadav accused the BJP of turning “jantantra” (democracy) into “mann-tantra” (autocracy), adding this time people have become aggressive and are ready to launch a “naya andolan” (new movement) by remembering Gandhiji.
Akhilesh Yadav, in a post on X, also alleged that police and district administration in many districts in UP were detaining Opposition party workers at their homes to stop them from participating in the counting of votes. No such allegations came from the BSP.
The BSP, which won 10 Lok Sabha seats in 2019 in alliance with the SP, is contesting 424 seats by itself across the country. After the BJP, which has fielded more than 441 candidates, the BSP has the second-largest number of candidates in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. On many seats in UP, BSP candidates were appearing in positions to damage the prospects of BJP and SP-Congress nominees.
