Takeaways from BSP LS list of 16: Mayawati hits refresh, potential to dent SP-Congress

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday released its first list of 16 candidates from Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections. Unlike the 2019 elections, when it was in alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), the party is contesting the elections alone this time.

The BSP has nominated Mazid Ali from Saharanpur, Shreepal Singh from Kairana, Dara Singh Prajapati from Muzaffarnagar, Vijendra Singh from Bijnor, Surendra Pal Singh from Nagina, Mohammad Irfan Saifi from Moradabad, Zeeshan Khan from Rampur, Shaukat Ali from Sambhal, Mujahid Hussain from Amroha, Devratt Tyagi from Meerut, Praveen Bansal from Baghpat, Rajendra Singh Solanki from Gautam Buddha Nagar, Girish Chandra Jatav from Bulandshahr, Abid Ali from Aonla, Aneesh Ahmed Khan alia Phool Babu from Pilibhit, and Dodram Verma from Shahjahanpur.

The BSP contested nine of these seats in 2019, winning four – Saharanpur, Bijnor, Nagina and Amroha. The SP fielded candidates in the other five last time, winning three, while the RLD lost both the seats it contested. Here are the takeaways from the list:

The BSP has fielded Muslim candidates in seven of the 16 seats, potentially creating a problem for the SP-Congress alliance, both of which are a part of the INDIA bloc and are hopeful of consolidating votes of the community against the BJP.

The party has fielded candidates from the minority community in Saharanpur, Moradabad, Rampur, Sambhal, Amroha, Aonla, and Pilibhit as these seats are seen to have a significant Dalit as well as Muslim population.

The Congress and SP too have fielded Muslim candidates in these seats. While former BSP leaders Imran Masood and Danish Ali (who was suspended by the BSP and is the sitting Amroha MP) have been