In UP, don’t count the BSP out just yet

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati kicked off her party’s campaign for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections with a large rally in Agra on Wednesday, ending her puzzling absence from the campaign trail. The BSP rose to prominence through the painstaking ground-level efforts of thousands of workers from marginalised castes under the leadership of her mentor and BSP founder, Kanshi Ram. That she was the country’s first Dalit woman chief minister and the BSP represented the interests of the most downtrodden communities made the history of her political journey remarkable.

Her political future, however, remains uncertain. Mayawati’s party has lost four straight elections — two assembly polls in 2012 and 2017, and two general elections in 2014 and 2019 — and is haemorrhaging leaders and support. Even in the upcoming polls, it is the SP — and not the BSP — which is seen by many as the primary challenger to the Bharatiya Janata Party, even as both parties attempt to pry away a section of the BSP’s core base, Dalits. But that may not be easy. Despite her losses, Mayawati has secured roughly 20% vote share in every electoral outing, indicating that Jatavs, the largest community among the Dalits, and various other marginalised groups continue to trust her. The BSP has a dedicated network of workers who are tied to the party for ideological, not transactional, reasons. It’s difficult to say whether the BSP can regain its former glory, but it still retains enough support to be a key player in a close election. Don’t count the elephant out just yet.