Mayawati Attacks SP, Congress; Leaves BJP Out: What's Happening In Uttar Pradesh?

In a fresh attack on the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati recalled the SP's attack on her on 2 June 1995, commonly known as the 'guest house case'.

She asked why the Congress never questioned its ally SP about it and why the Congress government at the Centre did not take the necessary action at the time.

Taking a favourable stance for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Mayawati said, "Amid criminal elements of the SP, the BJP and the entire opposition tried to save me, but Congress has troubles with it."

It is pertinent to mention that a BJP member of the legislative assembly (MLA), Brahmadutt Dwivedi, is credited with saving Mayawati in the guest house case. He was later murdered in 1998. The BSP did not field any candidate against his wife in the ensuing bypolls.

Backing the caste census that the Congress has been demanding for quite some time, Mayawati asked, "But after the caste census, will the Congress be able to ensure the rightful rights of SC (scheduled castes), ST (scheduled tribes), and OBC (other backward classes) classes?

She was referring to Congress' silence on the Supreme Court's recommendation to bring a provision to seclude the 'creamy layer' among SCs and STs from reservation benefits.

Mayawati has opposed this recommendation. While the Congress remained silent on the matter, the BJP clarified its stance soon after the Supreme Court's judgement.

Union Minister Ashiwini Vaishnaw said that since the Constitution does not have a provision for a 'creamy layer' among SCs and STs, the Modi government will also not bring it forth.

While Mayawati is neither part of the Congress-led INDI Alliance nor the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA), her politics appears to be aligning more with the BJP than the opposition.

In the 2024 Lok Sabha election, while the BJP fielded only one Muslim candidate, the BSP gave tickets to many Muslims but failed to win even a single seat.

Expressing disappointment at the lack of support the party received from the Muslim community, she said that future opportunities would be given to the community only after careful consideration.

This is similar to the BJP's stance, which maintains that it is not averse to giving tickets to Muslim candidates, but winnability is the most important criterion.

On Sunday (25 August), Mayawati attacked the Congress for not honouring Ambedkar with the Bharat Ratna.

Ambedkar was awarded the Bharat Ratna when V P Singh was prime minister with the BJP's support in 1990.

Mayawati also attacked the erstwhile Congress government at the Centre and the SP government in Uttar Pradesh (UP) for not declaring state mourning on the death of BSP founder Kanshi Ram in 2006.

Further, the BSP supremo pledged not to form an alliance with the SP and Congress in the future, calling them "anti-reservation" parties. The SP and BSP had formed an alliance in the 2019 election but soon fell apart.

Notably, Mayawati did not comment on the possibility of a future alliance with the BJP.

Mayawati's soft corner for the BJP can be sensed, for instance, by the fact that she temporarily removed her nephew Akash Anand from the position of BSP successor when he spoke out against the BJP.

The BJP, which suffered due to the attrition of Dalit votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, will be happy to have Mayawati on its side. A Swarajya analysis shows that an alliance with the BSP could have saved the BJP in UP.

In over two dozen seats in the state where the BJP lost, the margin of victory was less than the votes secured by the BSP.

In the election, the BJP won 33 of the 80 assembly seats, while the SP and Congress won 37 and six seats, respectively.

No moves in the direction of a BJP-BSP alliance have been made yet. But it bears noting that the BJP is going through a churn since the disappointing Lok Sabha results, and an attempt at an alliance with the BSP before the 2027 UP assembly election might be in the offing.