Bahujan Samaj Party Supremo Mayawati announced on Wednesday that she won’t tie up with the Congress in Rajasthan. Mayawati blames Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh for the alliance falling apart. But some political analysts smell Mayawati’s ‘game plan’ behind the split announcement that her party would be hoping for a repeat of 2008 when BSP managed to win six seats.
Assembly election 2008 was the only instance in the past two decades in Rajasthan when the Congress and the BJP fell short of the majority. Then the BSP tally of six upset the Congress’s plan and the party fell five short. The Congress formed the government with the support of Independents.
Interestingly, within four months of the results, all six BSP MLA’s joined the Congress.
BSP’s Political history in Rajasthan
In her speech in Lucknow on Wednesday, Mayawati signaled that the Mahagathbandhan is crumbling ahead of the 2019 elections. She said, ‘the Congress was conspiring to finish off the BJP and its leaders were sabotaging the alliance.’
Mayawati even alleges the Congress for conspiring to finish off the BJP and its leaders were sabotaging the alliance.’
Recalling the history, the BSP has been contesting Assembly polls in Rajasthan since 1990. Party has won seats only in the eastern districts, which have a considerable SC population. All its 57 candidates in 1990 and 50 in 1998 forfeited their deposit. Party first tested success in 1998, when it won two seats in the state.
In 2003, it won a seat each in Dausa and Karauli, but importantly, its influence became the difference between the BJP and the Congress vote share.
In 2008, when Mayawati was CM of UP, the party’s influence spread to Jhunjhunu and Sawai Madhopur and it won six seats.
In 2013, the BSP won the Sadulpur, Khetri and Dholpur seats. Then Dholpur MLA BL Kushwah was convicted in a murder case, leading to termination of his assembly membership in 2016. After that, his wife Shobharani Kushwah then contested the bypolls as a BJP candidate and surprisingly won.
Behan Ji wants to repeat 2008’s ‘Game plan’ to join the winner
It has proved that the BSP’s winning candidates are usually local, influential leaders who corner the SC votes in the constituency. In seats with considerable SC votes, the BSP is the preferred vehicle for a non-Congress, non-BJP candidate.
After Mayawati’s split announcement, it is being guessed that BSP chief is making her game plan to cut the votes from major parties. So that SC voters can trust the BSP’s ‘purity’ and cast their votes to the third front.
Mayawati is planning to break the party’s previous record of winning highest 6 seats in the state. So after that, she can join her preferred (Winner) front. In addition to that, state BSP Chief Sitaram Meghwal showed his confidence and said, ‘This time, we will contest all 200 seats.’
Read more: राजस्थान विधानसभा चुनाव से पहले बसपा ने बिगाड़ा कांग्रेस का गणित
