The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)’s magnate Mayawati has not been in the crosshairs of the ruling BJP in its campaign for the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh.
This has been seen in the rallies of the key BJP campaigners – including Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Home Minister Amit Shah, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, national party president J P Nadda, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Deputy CMs Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak, and state party president Bhupendra Chaudhary – which they have been addressing across the state for several weeks.
Top BJP leaders have indicated in these remarks that the only parties in the opposition, in their eyes, are the Congress, the Samajwadi Party (SP), and its leaders—Rahul Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav, in particular.
PM Modi, Shah, and Adityanath have been criticizing Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul, Priyanka Gandhi, and party chief Mallikarjun Kharge in their rallies in Uttar Pradesh thus far. They have also been criticizing SP president Akhilesh Yadav for missing the Ram Temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya on January 22 and for not going to the Temple since. To date, though, none of them has criticized Mayawati in this way.
On the other hand, in their campaign in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls – when the SP and the BSP had forged a pre-poll alliance – the BJP’s star campaigners including PM Modi, Shah and Adityanath had coined phrases like “Bua-Babua” or “Bua-Bhatija” to go after the then allies Mayawati and Akhilesh.
The BJP camp then proceeded to level accusations of corruption against the past BSP government and “gundagardi” against the previous SP regimes.
The results of the polls showed that the BJP’s total dropped from 71 seats in 2014 to 62 seats (out of the state’s 80 seats). Ten seats went to the BSP and five to the SP. But shortly after the election, Mayawati severed ties with Akhilesh.
Although it was not as harsh as it was in 2019, the BJP leaders nonetheless criticized Mayawati throughout the campaign for the 2022 UP Assembly elections.
This time, Mayawati has been criticizing the BJP together with the Congress and the SP at her election rallies in Uttar Pradesh in support of the BSP candidates.
But during the early stages of his campaigning, Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand, 28, seemed to have his sights set squarely on the BJP, criticizing the administration on issues like joblessness, inadequate education, and the use of bulldozers, among other things.
This happened shortly after Akash was charged under provisions of the IPC and the Representation of the People Act by the Sitapur police for allegedly inciting hatred and enmity, among other offenses. Akash is said to have referred to the BJP government as “gaddaron ki sarkar” (the government of traitors) during his speech at a Sitapur rally on April 28.
Mayawati then dismissed Akash as the national coordinator of the party and her political heir “until he attains maturity.” Barely six months had passed since she had appointed him her successor.
The BJP leaders remained silent about both Mayawati’s action against Akash and his comments.
Akhilesh responded to Mayawati’s action on X by writing, “The BSP’s recent efforts to implement significant organizational changes are their own.”
Additionally, the chief of the SP pleaded with BSP supporters not to “waste” their votes. In his quest for support for his party’s candidates, he has recently been appealing to the “Bahujan samaj” as well.
Mayawati has been accused by the INDIA camp of being the “BJP’s B-team” due to her “soft stance” towards the ruling party, particularly after she sacked Akash. However, BJP insiders contend that their top party leaders’ attempt to avoid criticising Mayawati is a part of their strategy to win over Dalit sub-castes like Chamaar (Jatavs in west UP), Dhobi, Paasi, Ahirwaar, Kureel, Dohre, Dom, Dusadh, Kharwar, and Mushar – who significantly contribute to over 40 constituencies in central and eastern UP.
Additionally, the chief of the SP pleaded with BSP supporters not to “waste” their votes. In his quest for support for his party’s candidates, he has recently been appealing to the “Bahujan samaj” as well.
Mayawati has fielded 20 Muslim candidates out of the 80 BSP candidates.
Chaudhary Basheer, the BSP’s candidate for Firozabad, has questioned her Muslim-Dalit formula, nevertheless. Basheer allegedly concedes defeat in a recent video that went viral following the third round of voting on May 7, claiming that the Muslim community supported the SP and not him.
The SP general secretary Ramgopal Yadav’s son Akshay is the candidate in the Firozabad seat dominated by the Muslim and Yadav voters.
In seats where Muslim-Dalit or Muslim-OBC (particularly Yadav) votes predominate, Mayawati has nominated Muslim candidates.
Aonla, Pilibhit, Kannauj, Moradabad, Etah, Badaun, Aonla, Ambedkar Nagar, and Shravasti are among the seats having caste equations. Azamgarh, Maharajganj, Sant Kabir Nagar, and Domariyaganj. In each of these seats, the SP has not fielded a Muslim candidate. But the BSP contenders running for these seats include, not engaged in a constant battle with the SP or the BJP.
As a result, observers claim that the BSP’s plan to get the upper hand through the Muslim-OBC or Muslim-Dalit equations did not seem to be successful.
Additionally, keeping Akash off the campaign trail has hurt the BSP because Mayawati might not be able to independently campaign for the party’s candidates in the 41 constituencies that will go to polls in the last three stages.