BSP ALLIES WITH JOGI’S PARTY FOR C’GARH POLLS; TO GO IT ALONE IN MP
LUCKNOW : Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday announced an alliance with Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (J), led by former chief minister Ajit Jogi, for the forthcoming assembly election in that state.
The tie-up is being seen as a snub to Congress, with which BSP leaders have held several talks for a pre-poll alliance in the three states -- Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan -- where elections are to be held by the end of the year.
Late on Thursday evening, BSP national general secretary Ramachal Rajbhar said the party has decided to field candidates on all 230 assembly seats in Madhya Pradesh.
Rajbhar, who is in-charge of MP, also released a list of 22 candidates. He said names of candidates for the remaining 208 seats will be announced in the first week of October.
BSP chief Mayawati has told party leaders that they will contest MP election on its own strength, he said.
A senior Bahujan Samaj Party leader, who does not wished to be named, said, “The party might contest the election in Rajasthan too on its own if Congress does not offer a respectable number of seats. Mayawati had made it clear that not only in the three states but also in the Lok Sabha polls the BSP will contest election on its own if the alliance partners don’t offer a respectable number of seats.”
Addressing a press conference with Jogi at her residence here, Mayawati said the former Chhattisgarh chief minister will be CM candidate of the alliance in the state. While the BSP will contest 35 seats, JCC (J) will field candidates on 55 seats.
Jogi said the BSP- JCC (J) alliance will end the 15-year rule of BJP in the state.
Jogi had met the BSP chief at her residence in New Delhi on July 5 triggering speculations of a tie up between the two parties.
Jogi had parted ways with Congress in 2016 to launch his party, thus paving the way for the formation of a third force in Chhattisgarh politics where there had been straight contest between BJP and Congress in assembly elections.
The BSP has influence in a few pockets of the state known for its forest and waterfalls. In the 2014 assembly election the BSP polled 4.27% vote and secured victory on one seat. With the tie-up, BSP and CJC (J) hope to gain ground in the state by making inroads into the Congress and BJP vote base.
The BSP’s talks with the Congress had fallen through in Chhattisgarh reportedly because the Congress was unwilling to concede more than seven to nine seats. Chhattisgarh assembly has 90 seats. For Chhattisgarh that has seen a bi-polar fight between BJP and Congress and governments are decided by wafer-thin margins, Mayawati’s decision to force a triangular contest is seen as a setback for the Congress.
The BSP fielded candidates in all 90 assembly segments in 2013, won 1 seat and polled 558,000 votes with a share of 4.4%.
While Congress has weakened after the rebellion of Jogi, the alliance plans to cash in on the anti- incumbency factor against the BJP government led by Raman Singh. To strengthen the organization and to gear up the cadre for the assembly polls, Mayawati appointed senior leader Lalji Verma as party in-charge of Chhattisgarh. To give prominence to loyal leaders in the state unit, the party organization was also rejiged, the BSP leader said.
Political observer RK Gautam said Mayawati is working to make BSP a player in national politics by allying with regional political parties in the states where it enjoys influence over the Dalit voters.
In Karnataka, BSP went for pre-poll alliance with JD (S). Mayawati played pivotal role in the formation of the non- BJP government and BSP joined the HD Kumaraswamy government as well. In Haryana BSP has tied up with Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) and supported the SP candidate in the Lok Sabha by-poll held in UP, the BSP leader said.
After three consecutive defeats -- in 2012 assembly election, 2014 Lok Sabha election and 2017 assembly election -- Mayawati is opting for alliance politics to regain the lost ground. Sources said BSP leaders are holding parleys with Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), led by Hemant Soren, for alliance in the coming Lok Sabha election.