BSP aims to emerge kingmaker in Rajasthan, stop post-poll party hopping by its MLAs

New Delhi: Slowly and steadily Bahujan Samaj Party is trying to consolidate its vote bank in Rajasthan with an aim to emerge as the kingmaker in case of a close contest in the forthcoming Assembly polls in the desert state.

Though the electoral contest in Rajasthan is mainly decided between the Congress and the BJP, the BSP is eager to create its share of power. The party’s strategy is to enter the electoral battle with the aim of consolidating its status as the one that can tilt the 'Balance of Power'.

In the last two assembly elections in Rajasthan, BSP has shown its mettle by winning 6 seats. However, both times all the BSP MLAs who won on party ticket changed sides in the middle of the term and left the party red-faced. In fact, after the 2018 Assembly polls, it was the 6 BSP MLAs who had provided the much-needed stability to the Congress’ Ashok Gehlot government which had secured power on the brink by winning 99 seats in the Assembly.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party facing major factionalism and Ashok Gehlot facing anti-incumbency, the BSP hopes that it has a chance to put up its best-ever show in Rajasthan in the forthcoming polls, sources said. 

In 2023 polls, the party aims to at least double its seat tally in the 200-member Rajasthan Assembly. This, the senior leadership of the party hopes, will also thwart attempts by the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party to break its state unit in any post-poll scenario. “There is strength in numbers. The higher the number of elected MLAs of BSP the more difficult it would be for outside forces to damage the party,” sources said.    

Moreover, the party would only offer tickets to BSP workers who have a strong base within the party and follow its ideology. The party will also seek an oath of allegiance from all its candidates that will be fielded in the forthcoming polls, sources added.

The BSP is considered to be a party with a strong base amongst the Dalit community in Uttar Pradesh and beyond. The party has been claiming its major share of political power by winning Lok Sabha and Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh. However, it has also been consistently gaining votes in states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab and Chhattisgarh.

As part of connecting with the Dalit population of Rajasthan, the BSP state unit has also been conducting the "Sarvajan Hitaya Sarvajan Sukhay-Sankalp Yatra" over the past few days. Through the yatra, state BSP leaders called on the voters and apprised them about the welfare initiatives that the party hopes to take up if its candidates are elected. The yatra is also being seen as a 'show of strength'.

BSP supremo Mayawati has already announced to contest elections on her own this time in Rajasthan.   

The party is targeting 18 per cent of Scheduled Caste and 13 per cent Scheduled Tribe population in Rajasthan to emerge as a force that can secure a major vote share. It is learnt that Mayawati has instructed BSP leaders to bring forth before people the brutal incidents of caste oppression happening across the country on Dalits, tribals, poor, labourers and the underprivileged for consolidating votes from these communities in favour of the BSP.  

The party has already announced that it will contest all the 200 assembly seats and claims that the list of candidates will be released soon considering the local factors and winnability of each of these. 

Rajasthan is an important state on the national political map and political parties including Congress, BJP, AAP and BSP are aiming to secure votes and seats here ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

The BJP-Rashtriya Loktantrik Party alliance had secured all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in 2019. 

This completely reversed the 2018 Assembly polls outcome as the BJP was only able to secure 75 seats in the 200 members, losing the crucial state to the Congress which was able to secure 99 seats. The BJP had also successfully secured all 25 Lok Sabha seats in Rajasthan in the 2014 general elections.