Is Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader Mayawati losing grip on her vote bank? This is the question on the Uttar Pradesh’s voter’s mind following the Samajwadi Party (SP)’s victory in the Ghosi bye-elections.
Not only did the BSP decide to sit out of the contest, but Ms. Mayawati appealed to her voters to either not turn up at the election booth or press NOTA if they did. This left many confused since Ghosi is represented by BSP MP Atul Rai in the Lok Sabha. The Ghosi Assembly seat has around 90,000 Muslims and around 60,000 Dalit voters. Both communities are important for the BSP, which was created as a champion of the ‘bahujan samaj’, defined as the coalition of downtrodden minorities including Dalits, Adivasis, backward classes, and religious minorities.
The voter turnout in Ghosi saw a drop of 8% points. While the local SP leadership believes that such a drop is normal during a by-poll, sources in the BSP contend that Ms. Mayawati’s appeal to the voters was the reason for the drop. They say that the party’s core voters stayed away thanks to her call. They also recall how she ensured the SP’s defeat in the Azamgarh Lok Sabha by-poll in 2022, by fielding a Muslim candidate, to argue that the party continues to stay relevant as a third force in Uttar Pradesh politics, whether through its presence or absence from the fray.
