The Azad imprint in BSP’s Delhi candidate list: Can BSP’s road to recovery start from the Capital?

A elder enactment person said the BSP was besides focusing connected younker and astir fractional of its candidates are nether 45 years old. “Keeping the inclination of young voters towards (Nagina MP and Azad Samaj Party (Kanshi Ram) main Chandrashekhar Azad, peculiar absorption has been laid connected youth. The enactment is trying to woo young Dalits,” the person said.

“A bulk of our candidates are enactment workers. Reposing spot successful them volition rise the morale of the cadre and volition assistance the enactment amended its ballot share. Dalits are our halfway elector basal and we request to get their enactment back,” said BSP Delhi president Laxman Singh.

The enactment has assigned the work of the Delhi polls to its nationalist coordinator and Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand, who has already addressed 2 rallies successful the Capital and is scheduled to clasp different connected Sunday. However, sources said nary Mayawati rally was successful the works yet. Campaign for the elections volition extremity connected February 3.

In its bid to regain its foothold, Mayawati has divided the 68 Assembly seats into 5 zones and deployed 10 elder leaders arsenic coordinators. For instance, Randhir Beniwal of Saharanpur successful Uttar Pradesh, who helmed the party’s affairs during the Haryana Assembly polls past year, volition look aft 1 portion with Rajesh Tanwar.

The coordinators of each portion person been tasked with readying the run of candidates arsenic good arsenic participating successful it by holding nukkad sabhas and door-to-door visits. “Our enactment runs connected the publication of workers. Hence, we person budget constraints too. We person planned our run accordingly and alternatively of immense rallies, we are reaching the voters’ doorsteps directly,” a zonal coordinator said.

Despite its efforts, the BSP seems to person its task chopped retired arsenic its rivals BJP, Congress and AAP are eyeing the Dalit ballot bank. For instance, the BJP has fielded 14 candidates from the community, 2 of whom are contesting from unreserved seats. The Congress, which enjoyed the enactment of the assemblage earlier the AAP burst connected the country successful 2013, has fielded 13 Dalit candidates of whom 1 is contesting from an unreserved seat. The AAP, seen to beryllium the favoured enactment of the assemblage since 2015 owed to payment schemes, has fielded Dalit candidates successful the 12 SC-reserved seats of the capital.

Another hurdle that the BSP is apt to deed successful its bid to regain its foothold is its declining ballot stock successful the superior since it was voted retired of powerfulness successful neighbouring Uttar Pradesh successful 2012. The party’s champion show successful the Capital came successful 2008, erstwhile it won 2 seats, Babarpur and the SC-reserved spot of Gokalpur, with a 14% ballot share.

Five years later, the BSP’s ballot stock sharply declined to 5.35% and it failed to unfastened its account. It yet again drew a blank successful the 2015 polls arsenic 69 of its 70 candidates forfeited deposits and its ballot stock further dipped to 1.3%.

In the past Assembly elections, each 68 BSP candidates forfeited their deposits and the party’s ballot stock fell to 0.71%. It managed to transverse the 1,000-vote people lone successful 16 seats, of which 7 are SC-reserved. The BSP’s champion show came successful Babarpur, wherever its campaigner finished third, securing implicit 10,000 votes. In past year’s Lok Sabha polls too, the party’s ballot stock failed to breach the 1% people successful Delhi, lasting astatine 0.7%.