Following a disappointing performance in the Lok Sabha elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati announced that her party would reassess its strategy regarding Muslim candidates. Despite fielding many Muslim candidates, the BSP failed to secure any seats, prompting Mayawati to express her dissatisfaction with the community’s support.
In her statement, Mayawati highlighted that the Muslim community did not vote for the BSP despite their substantial representation on the candidate list. She attributed the party’s failure to a lack of understanding and support from the Muslim electorate, who appeared to favour the INDIA bloc. Moving forward, Mayawati indicated that her party would be more selective in fielding Muslim candidates, doing so only after thorough consideration.
This setback is not new for the BSP; the party failed to win any seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. They had a brief resurgence in 2019, winning 10 seats in alliance with the Samajwadi Party.
The BSP fielded 35 Muslim candidates in the recent elections. In contrast, their former ally, Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, made significant gains, securing 37 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh. The INDIA bloc ally Congress won six seats, including the high-profile Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which previously dominated the state, managed to win only 33 seats, a significant drop from their 2019 tally. Nationally, the BJP won 240 seats, falling 32 seats short of a simple majority.
Mayawati’s decision to reevaluate the inclusion of Muslim candidates comes after rejecting overtures from the Samajwadi Party and Congress to join the INDIA bloc before the elections. The BSP’s poor performance has led to calls for a deep analysis to understand the reasons behind their electoral failure.
The BSP’s inability to secure any seats in the recent elections has prompted Mayawati to reconsider her approach. “The Muslim community, which is an important part of the Bahujan Samaj Party, is not able to understand the BSP properly despite being given proper representation in the past elections and this time also in the Lok Sabha general elections. So, in such a situation, the party will give them a chance in the elections after a lot of thought so that the party does not suffer a huge loss in the future like this time,” Mayawati said, per PTI.
As the BSP looks to regroup and analyze its strategy, the political landscape in Uttar Pradesh and across India continues to evolve, with alliances and voter bases shifting in the wake of the latest election results.