Mayawati aloof, left to own devices, BSP MPs weigh options

WITH THE Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) not part of any alliance in Uttar Pradesh, and absent from the poll buzz, several of its MPs apprehensive of their prospects are believed to be in touch with other parties.

The BSP had won 10 seats from Uttar Pradesh in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the maximum after the BJP. Of them, Ghazipur MP Afzal Ansari has already taken the Samajwadi Party ticket from the seat, while Amroha MP Danish Ali was suspended by the party and is believed to be set to join the Congress after attending the launch of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra from Manipur.

Incidentally, as part of its arrangement with the SP declared on Wednesday, the Congress is set to contest Amroha. Ali has been active on the ground in anticipation.

With Mayawati inaccessible, the remaining eight sitting MPs of the BSP are unsure if they will even be re-fielded by the party. Sources said the MPs are yet to be contacted by the party organisation as part of election preparations.

Asked about the party’s MPs looking at other parties, including the SP, BJP and Congress, its central coordinator Ramji Gautam declined to comment.

A BSP MP said, “I am not even being called for organisation meetings, like ongoing cadre camps. So, I have to look for options.”

The BSP MP from Jaunpur, Shyam Singh Yadav, had joined Rahul Gandhi’s first Bharat Jodo Yatra, in December 2022, and walked with him for about three hours as it crossed Delhi. Yadav later said he had joined the Yatra in his “individual capacity”, on the invitation of Rahul.

In December last year, Yadav also issued an appeal to parties including the BSP to unite against the BJP, again calling it his personal opinion. Mayawati has been saying that the BSP did not intend to join the INDIA