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Journalism of Courage
At a time when it has been on a steady electoral decline, especially in Uttar Pradesh, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is optimistic about its chances in Rajasthan despite the setback of seeing all six of its MLAs jump ship to the Congress in 2019. And the major reason is the impact it had on the Assembly elections last time.
The BSP contested 190 of the 200 seats in the 2018 Assembly polls, registering a vote share of 4.03%. It was the third-largest vote share after that of the Congress and the BJP. But what gave the party a boost — something that has informed its strategy going into the election next month — is that in 30 seats, it polled more votes than the victory margin. This indicates that while it did not manage to win those constituencies it damaged the prospects of the runner-up and had a say on who won and who lost.
Of the 30 constituencies, the Congress won 17 seats, the BJP 10, and three went to Independents. The most heavily hit was the BJP that lost 17 constituencies on account of the Mayawati-led party — the Congress took 16 constituencies and the other one went to an Independent. Had the BJP won all those seats, its tally would gone up from 73 to 90 and the Congress’s would have dropped from 100 to 84. For the Congress, the damage count because of the BSP was lower at 11, including nine constituencies that were bagged by the BJP and two that were won by Independents.
Post 2018 elections, the BSP backed the Congress but the latter broke away all six of the Mayawati-led party’s legislators, thus ensuring that the anti-defection law would not apply. Explaining what was different this time, a state BSP leader said, “Our MLAs went there to be part of power. This time, the party is more cautiously selecting dedicated candidates. The party has also kept the doors open for a post-alliance and be part of the government to prevent such moves of MLAs.”
The party has so far announced 12 candidates but plans to contest all 200, said its state president Bhagwan Singh Baba. Baba said the BSP was focusing on 60 constituencies in 15 districts — Dholpur, Bharatpur, Karauli, Sawai Madhopur, Dausa, Alwar, Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Churu, Hanumangarh, Ganganagar, Barmer, Jalore, Nagaur, and Jaipur Rural. Asked about the party’s “Mission 60”, Baba said, “The party has won here in the past. In several seats, the BSP finished second and third in past polls. Our organisational work is also strong there.”
The BSP’s election efforts this time are being overseen by Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand who, in August, led a two-week yatra from Dholpur to Jaipur. The yatra covered 100 Assembly seats, including the “Mission 60” constituencies. Organising the yatra was a move away from the BSP’s usual practice of not organising yatras and staging street protests. Indicating another possible shift, Mayawati on July 25 said her party might take a call on joining governments after the coming Assembly polls in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Telangana to ensure “balance of power” and the uplift of minorities, Dalits, and backward classes. The BSP president will address eight rallies between November 17 and 20, just a week before Rajasthan goes to poll.
