With the weakening of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh, the fragmentation of Dalit votes and the claim on it has increased. Although Mayawati still has the most influence on votes, it is clearly visible that her vote base has been continuously decreasing since the last several elections. This time she fought the Lok Sabha elections alone and got 9.39 percent votes in Uttar Pradesh and BSP’s vote across the country was 2.05 percent, which was 3.60 percent in the 2019 elections.
No party at the national level would have lost so many votes in an election. Even in the 2022 assembly elections, Mayawati’s party remained at 12.88 percent. Think, Mayawati’s party was out of power in 2012 after losing, then it got 25.91 percent votes, which has been reduced to 12.88 i.e. half today. Similarly, in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati had got 20 percent votes in Uttar Pradesh, which is now 9.39 percent, meaning that she has got less than half of the votes.
This means that half of BSP’s votes are going to other parties. Different parties claim to have got votes in different elections. Dalit votes may have broken away from Mayawati and gone to any party in whatever amount, but the reality is that BSP is getting weaker election after election and other parties are also making claims for its votes. On one hand, Mayawati is trying to stop the division of votes, while on the other hand, parties are trying to snatch them. Mayawati has made her nephew Akash Anand her successor by making him the national coordinator again and has also reduced the fee for becoming a member of the party from two hundred rupees to 50 rupees so that more people can be added.
On the other hand, the Congress party, encouraged by the results of the Lok Sabha elections, is trying to reach out to Dalit voters. Congress fought the elections in alliance with the Samajwadi Party and has got six seats. It is again setting the equation of Brahmin, Dalit and Muslim. It is being told that it is going to run a membership campaign in Uttar Pradesh, in which the special focus will be on Dalit voters. Congress is seeing the benefit of Mallikarjun Kharge becoming the president. That is why it is intensifying its efforts.
Samajwadi Party feels that Awadhesh Prasad of Dalit society has opened the doors of Dalit votes for it by winning the Faizabad seat. SP is showing Awadhesh Prasad like a trophy across the country. Apart from reserved seats, it had fielded Dalit candidates from many general seats. It is creating a message in the state that BSP can never come to power now, so the best option for Dalits is SP. Meanwhile, Azad Samaj Party has risen rapidly. Chandrashekhar, who won the Lok Sabha election from Nagina seat, is constantly praising Mayawati and promising to complete her remaining work. So, the battle between Akash Anand and Chandrashekhar is going to start in the next few days. As far as BJP is concerned, it is already running its campaign by targeting the non-Jatav vote.
Courtesy : Hindi News
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