For ‘shrinking’ BSP, one of its most pressing problems: Chandrashekhar Azad is slowly catching up

The dilatory but persistent emergence of the ASP (Kanshi Ram) is apt to lend to the atrocious humor betwixt Mayawati and Azad. In 2019, erstwhile Azad joined the protestation against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the projected National Register of Citizens, the BSP main tweeted, “Dalits judge that Bhim Army’s Chandrashekhar is playing to the tunes of the Opposition parties and is conspiring to impact BSP’s ballot stock successful election-bound states. He protests and past deliberately goes to jail.”

That enactment of onslaught has continued since then, with the BSP viewing Azad’s enactment arsenic a Dalit alternate that whitethorn woody it a assemblage blow. In a connection connected November 24, a time aft the Assembly predetermination results, Mayawati made a veiled notation to the ASP (Kanshi Ram) portion accusing the Congress and the BJP of secretly colluding with their “associates” to forestall the BSP from coming to power.

“Together, they manipulated and utilized opportunistic, self-serving individuals from the Dalit assemblage to make galore parties. These parties are wholly funded by the aforesaid groups to service their interests,” Mayawati alleged, adding these parties “travel with dozens of vehicles and adjacent usage helicopters and aeroplanes during campaigns”.

Mayawati alleged these parties were weakening the BSP for their governmental gains by fielding candidates who align with their interests. “Furthermore, to fortify these self-serving and opportunistic groups, our opponents are adjacent transferring their votes to them and ensuring that 1 oregon 2 MPs oregon MLAs from specified groups get elected successful each state,” she claimed. Mayawati pointed retired that specified a signifier was witnessed successful the Assembly polls successful Haryana, Maharashtra, and Jharkhand arsenic good arsenic successful the Uttar Pradesh bypolls.

An ASP (Kanshi Ram) person said portion Azad campaigned some successful Jharkhand and Maharashtra, helium gave peculiar attraction to Meerapur successful UP wherever a bypoll was held arsenic it is adjacent to his Nagina Lok Sabha constituency. ASP (Kanshi Ram)’s Jharkhand president Kashif Bharti said, “Our enactment performed truthful good successful the authorities owed to people’s increasing spot successful our person Chandrashekhar ji and the hard enactment of the section organisation. Dalits, minorities, tribals and OBCs each voted for the ASP. We were hoping for a amended performance. Though the BSP is not moving connected the ground, it chopped our votes successful immoderate seats.”

Azad’s triumph from Nagina successful the Lok Sabha elections had sent alarm bells ringing successful the BSP, whose leaders said it would assistance him “evolve arsenic a Dalit person and arsenic an alternate to Mayawati, further weakening the BSP”.

In Jharkhand, 1 BSP campaigner blamed the enactment for its mediocre performance. “The BSP’s apical enactment was astir missing from the campaign. Party candidates contested connected their ain with the assistance of section workers. The bulk of Dalit votes shifted to the JMM-Congress-RJD confederation and a conception besides voted for the ASP. If this is the cognition of our nationalist leadership, past the BSP volition go weaker and different smaller parties similar ASP volition drawback its ballot bank,” said the candidate.

How the 2 parties performed

Contesting its archetypal Assembly predetermination successful Jharkhand, the ASP (Kanshi Ram) went face-to-face with the BSP successful 15. It managed to unafraid much votes than the BSP successful 8 of those constituencies: Hazaribagh, Jamshedpur West, Daltonganj, Mandu, Bermo, Panki, Godda, and Gandey. Mayawati’s enactment polled much votes than the ASP successful 7 seats: Bishrampur, Hussainabad, Barkatha, Garhwa, Ramgarh, Bhawanathpur and Dhanwar.

The champion effect of the ASP (Kanshi Ram) came successful Daltonganj, Mandu and Panki, wherever its campaigner came 4th and polled much than 10,000 votes successful each seat. In Panki, the enactment polled 22,990 votes, its highest crossed the state. For the BSP, finishing 3rd successful Hussainabad and Bishrampur was its champion performance.

In Maharashtra, the 2 parties were engaged successful nonstop contests successful 24 seats. In these seats, the BSP was by acold the much ascendant party, winning much votes than the ASP successful 21. The 3 seats wherever the ASP outperformed the BSP are Amravati, Achalpur, and Pusad.

The 2 parties besides faced disconnected successful 8 of the 9 constituencies successful UP wherever bypolls were held. Azad’s enactment outperformed the BSP successful Meerapur and Kundarki, some successful occidental UP, finishing third. The BSP finished up of the ASP (Kanshi Ram) successful six seats.