BSP may take back influential rebel leaders

LUCKNOW : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) would open its doors to some senior leaders who had rebelled and left the organization earlier, people familiar with the matter said after meeting of senior party leaders was held under the chairmanship of newly appointed state president RS Kushwaha in the state unit office on Sunday.

The move to take back the rebel leaders who have mass support and influence among their castes comes as they were perceived to have damaged the party’s prospects in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly elections.

To win the support of the backward castes, BSP chief Mayawati might permit the homecoming of some rebel leaders, a BSP leader said.

Some of them are in touch with senior BSP leaders.

The BSP also plans to strengthen the organization at the booth level to put in a strong showing in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, said a BSP leader.

An alliance with its arch rival Samajwadi Party and joining the government in Karnataka has come as a a shot in the arm for the BSP before Lok Sabha election.

Political analysts had virtually written off the BSP after electoral defeats in 2012, 2014 and 2017 but it’s back in the reckoning with the strategic moves made by Mayawati, observers feel.

Sensing the prospects of the BSP had improved the rebels are also sending feelers to join the party, the BSP leader said.

Mayawati had directed the zonal coordinators to constitute booth committees in all the Lok Sabha constituencies in their respective zones. The BSP chief is camping in Delhi. During her next visit, she will review the constitution and working of the booth committees, he said.

The booth committees are the backbone of the BSP organisation and played a pivotal role in the party’s victory in the Lok Sabha and assembly elections in the past. The BSP formed majority government after the 2007 assembly election on the strength of these committees.

Gradually, the booth committees were neglected, providing opportunity to the BJP and the SP to make inroads in the BSP vote bank. To regain the lost ground the party has decided to strengthen the organization at the grass root level, the BSP leader said.

At the national executive meeting held in the last week of May, Mayawati had directed the party leaders and office bearers to start preparation for the Lok Sabha election. The zonal coordinators were told to focus on the organisation and complete the constitution of all the committees by June-end. The coordinators were directed to scan potential candidates for Lok Sabha seats.