Mayawati not able to create the atmosphere?

Kanshi Ram had formed BSP in the 80s to awaken political consciousness among Dalits and backward classes. Mayawati became the Chief Minister of UP four times with the help of Dalit and backward class votes. BSP had a monopoly on Dalit votes for two decades, but after Mayawati was ousted from power in 2012, the political base of BSP has been continuously weakening. In such a situation, Mayawati is working hard to revive BSP.

BSP’s exercise amidst slipping support baseBSP’s position has become very weak. BSP’s graph has gone down across the country. The party has been marginalized in UP politics. In the 2022 UP assembly elections, BSP was reduced to 13 percent votes with one seat won. In the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, BSP was reduced to zero and vote share decreased to 9.39 percent. Earlier, the non-Jatav Dalit vote in UP had shifted from BSP to BJP. In 2022 and 2024, BSP’s Jatav vote was also breached.

Mayawati is constantly doing political exercises to strengthen the shrinking political base of BSP. So that Bahujan politics can be strengthened once again. Under this, Mayawati took steps towards creating Dalit and OBC equation. Mayawati has started working on the mission of connecting OBC leaders to the party after 13 years. Apart from this, BSP is holding organizational meetings three to four times a month. Not only this, she is constantly holding meetings with the in-charges of different areas of BSP, while the coordinators are busy holding meetings from booth to district and assembly level.

BSP continuously fails in creating political atmosphereBSP cadre camps are also being held continuously. BAMCEF has been reactivated and is also participating in BSP meetings. Mayawati is also holding meetings with Dalit and OBC leaders. In UP, BSP has prepared an organization from district to booth level. Apart from this, BSP leaders are trying to create an atmosphere by taking out rallies in the villages before the cadre camp meeting, but political buzz is not being created. Not only this, BSP is also not able to create any political narrative, which can breathe new life into the party again.

Mayawati has appointed Akash Anand as the Chief National Coordinator of BSP, this is the third time this appointment has been made in her party. However, earlier Akash used to be the National Coordinator of BSP. Now he has been made the Chief National Coordinator. This makes it clear that now after Mayawati, Akash Anand will be number two in BSP. There are 3 National Coordinators in the party, which include Ramji Gautam, Rajaram and Randhir Beniwal. These three National Coordinators of BSP will now report to Akash Anand. In this way, the political power of Akash Anand has increased, but his attitude is not going to be as aggressive as before. Mayawati is considered to be a strategy to create an atmosphere for BSP through this reshuffle.

Why is the political environment for BSP not being created?After Mayawati’s continuous political exercises, the party’s senior leaders are also worried about the political environment not being created in BSP’s favour, and the party cadre is also seen in a dilemma. We tried to understand this by talking to various political analysts, in which most of the leaders believe that BSP has to do politics in the traditional way. Senior journalist Siddharth Kalhans says that the country’s politics has completely changed, but Mayawati is still doing politics in the same old way.

Mayawati has taken advantage of the issues on which Kanshiram formed BSP by becoming CM four times. The aspirations of Dalits and backward classes are more than before and they are talking about their representation. In such a situation, politics will now have to be done as per expectations. Congress and BJP seem to be ahead of BSP in strategically conveying their message to the media, whereas Mayawati just calls an agency and tells her point to them or tweets. In this way, her connection with the public has been completely cut off. BSP leaders have connection only through BSP coordinator and in-charge. In such a situation, BSP’s base has also slipped due to lack of direct contact with the public.

Mayawati faces the challenge of breaking this narrativeBSP is completely missing as an opposition. Political analysts believe that Mayawati is not able to play her role properly as an opposition party, rather there have been many occasions when Mayawati has been seen standing in the role of an advisor to the BJP government. However, Mayawati is the biggest leader of Dalits in UP and BSP is the first choice of Dalits in the state. Despite this, after the coming of the Narendra Modi government, Mayawati has adopted a soft stand towards BJP on many important issues, due to which she is not able to create a political narrative. Political atmosphere is created only by creating a narrative.

By playing the role of an advisor to the government, BSP has been able to create the narrative of BJP’s B-team as the opposition. Due to this, the Muslim community voters have completely distanced themselves from BSP. Other anti-BJP votes also do not come with BSP. It is not easy for BSP’s graph to rise without breaking the narrative of BJP’s B-team. In such a situation, Mayawati will have to take steps towards breaking this narrative.

Mayawati believes more in equationsMayawati believes more in equations than in struggle. BSP has now entangled itself in caste politics. Instead of making BSP a party of the entire state, Mayawati tries to sail through sometimes with the help of Dalit-Brahmin alliance and sometimes with the help of Dalit-Muslim alliance. She calls this social engineering. Mayawati feels that instead of going among the people, if you make caste equations, you will win the elections, but after the political rise of Modi, this spell has been broken badly. Despite this, Mayawati is not able to get out of it and is sticking to the old formula. The middle class vote bank is of utmost importance, efforts will have to be made to achieve it.

Kanshi Ram’s BSP is no more but Mayawati’s BSP. Kanshi Ram used to discuss before taking any political step and understand the impact it would have. He used to take a decision only after this, but now BSP does not have this culture. Mayawati was overconfident that her voters would not go away from her under any circumstances, no matter what step she takes. In such a situation, not only OBCs but also non-Jatav Dalits but also Jatav votes have gone away from BSP.

We need to bring back our core vote bankTo revive BSP, Mayawati will first have to bring back her core vote bank, which will include not only Jatavs but also Dalits. If Mayawati succeeds in uniting Dalit votes, then other vote banks will come together. Dalit votes will come to BSP only when they believe that BSP can win. There is a lack of trust in BSP, which should be removed. This trust will be established only when the party is seen standing with them in their sorrows and happiness. Work will have to be done to provide a political alternative. If it becomes clear that only BSP can defeat BJP, then no one can stop BSP from emerging.

BSP will have to once again run a campaign at the ideological level, which will have to prepare strong cadres not only in the Dalit community but also among the OBC and minority communities. Ambedkar’s ideology is still very strong, the way India Alliance forged the narrative of the Constitution and reservation against the BJP in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, it has also benefited from it. Similarly, BSP can get more benefit in establishing this issue strongly.

Alliance politics is so dominant in the country that even BJP is not able to function without alliance and Congress has to do alliance politics. In such a situation, it is becoming politically costly for Mayawati to contest elections alone. The voting pattern in the country has completely changed. On one side there are people who want to make BJP win at any cost and on the other side there are people who want to defeat BJP. In such a situation, politics can be done by staying in one camp only. Mayawati contesting elections alone without any alliance is not considered politically effective. In this way, Mayawati will have to choose one camp, whether with BJP or with Congress. Without alliance, BSP’s political boat is not going to sail through?