Maharashtra on Mayawati’s radar

For the next round of assembly elections, Mayawati has her eyes set on two states — Maharashtra and Haryana. Apart from spreading the Bahujan Samaj Party’s wings outside Uttar Pradesh, she aims to establish the party as a major challenger to the Congress which rules both these states.

The BSP leader unveiled her party’s strategy at a meeting at her residence in Lucknow on Wednesday. According to a source, she called upon leaders from both states to use this opportunity to mount a credible challenge to the Congress.

The BSP has been making its presence felt in Maharashtra, especially in the Vidarbha and Marathwada regions. Though it did not win any seats in the state in the recent Lok Sabha elections, it facilitated the victory of some Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party candidates by splitting the secular Dalit vote.

In the 2004 assembly elections, the BSP had contested 272 of the 288 seats in Maharashtra. Its vote share was only 4.18%. Today, Mayawati is banking on the 11% Dalit population, which was traditionally with the Congress until Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) managed to woo the Republican Party of India (RPI). Now the BSP is out to dent this vote bank.

In Haryana, the BSP made huge inroads in the last Lok Sabha election, getting 16% of the vote, second only to the Congress. It also stood second in two Lok Sabha constituencies.

In Haryana, the party contested 84 of the 90 seats in the 2004 polls. It won only one seat and its vote share was 3.44%.

Now, the BSP has joined hands with Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) chief and three-time chief minister Bhajan Lal. Under this arrangement, the BSP will contest 40 of the 90 seats in the state.