Mayawati Starts Off Small To Resolve The Elephantine Problems Within BSP

After the poor performance of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the 2024 Lok Sabha election, where the party failed to win even a single seat, BSP supremo Mayawati has been trying to come up with ways to rejuvenate the party but to no avail.

She even decided to contest the assembly bypoll in nine seats of Uttar Pradesh (UP) in a break from the past, but the party could neither win a seat nor make the contest triangular.

After these losses, Mayawati alleged electoral malpractice and asserted that until the Election Commission addresses these issues, the BSP will not contest any bypoll in the country here on out.

This was not the lone case of a U-turn by Mayawati this year.

During the Lok Sabha election, Mayawati removed her nephew Akash Anand from the post of BSP successor, but then reinstated him after a poor showing in the election.

Another instance was when the BSP fielded Muslim candidates in the UP bypoll.

After the Lok Sabha election, Mayawati had remarked that the Muslim community did not support the BSP, and the party would, therefore, give opportunities to Muslims thereafter only after serious consideration.

However, the BSP fielded two Muslim candidates in the bypoll, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) fielded none. Additionally, the party (BSP) gave prominence to many Muslim leaders of the organisation.

The result was once again disheartening for the BSP. Its Muslim candidates not only lost the election but came in fifth behind the BJP, Samajwadi Party (SP), Asaduddin Owaisi's AIMIM, and Chandra Shekhar's Azad Samaj Party.

The BSP lost its security deposit on seven of the nine seats it contested, and could save its deposit only in Katehari of Ambedkar Nagar and Majhawan of Mirzapur.

The major reason for these losses was that no popular BSP leader campaigned, leaving the candidates to do it all themselves. Akash Anand was busy with the Maharashtra and Jharkhand elections, and Mayawati did not came out to campaign.

Insufficient campaigning has been a reason for BSP losses more recently. The party has not been able to communicate its agenda to the voters, thereby failing to win their confidence.

Another reason is the lack of good leaders in the party. Many prominent leaders have left after 2019. Mayawati appears to have understood this issue, as she urged party workers to bring back the leaders who had left the party.

Some notable names are SP members of parliament (MP) Lalji Verma and Afzal Ansari, UP Deputy CM Brajesh Pathak, and former UP minister Swami Prasad Maurya.

The BSP is set to launch its expansion drive on 15 January 2025 and has opened its doors to the former leaders.

But the key question is, why would leaders jump onto a sinking ship?

To ease the process, however, the party plans to begin by reaching out to leaders who are yet to join a party. It would be easier to bring them back. Next, the party will focus on leaders who have joined the BJP, SP, and Congress.

By bringing back former BSP leaders, the party might get a much-needed facelift. But also, to improve its ground connect, the party has decided to rope in the All India Backward and Minority Communities Employees Federation (BAMCEF).

BAMCEF district presidents have been asked to go to the villages and convey to the people that the BSP can do what other parties cannot, including demanding reservations in private jobs.

Notably, BSP founder Kanshiram, too, had taken the help of BAMCEF to expand the party's base.

Mayawati has been actively deliberating on the role of BAMCEF since September. However, since the appointment of BAMCEF conveners and co-conveners took time, it failed to show any results in the November bypoll.

Further, Mayawati has planned 'Bhaichara' committees as part of the BSP's outreach to other communities, such as the Other Backward Classes (OBC) and minorities.

While all these plans appear to kickstart the BSP's rejuvenation, they don't inspire much confidence due to the lack of enthusiasm among party cadre and the partial activeness of party leaders.

Moreover, there is a growing bipolarity in UP politics between the BJP and SP. If we go by the recent bypoll, in every constituency, almost three-fourths of the votes were shared between the two parties.

Kanpur's Sisamau saw this number rise up to 98 per cent, followed by 94 per cent in Mainpuri's Karhal. Three other seats, Khair, Ghaziabad, and Kundarki, witnessed over 80 per cent votes shared between the two parties.

This leaves less space for BSP's return unless the party takes away some votes from the BJP and SP. For that to happen, though, a popular narrative is needed. At present, that appears to be a deficiency in Mayawati's party.