BSP opens front against Congress in Rajasthan
BSP chief Mayawati
By Our Special Correspondent
New Delhi, November 18: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati appears to have made her intent clear that she has to settle scores with the incumbent Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in the Assembly elections. Mayawati is coming down heavily against the Congress in the state Assembly election, appealing to punish the ruling party in the state.
In one of the posts on X, formerly Twitter, Mayawati lashed at the Congress for the party’s “nefarious designs against the BSP” and even called upon the Election Commission to take cognisance of the alleged disinformation campaign of the ruling party in Rajasthan. Mayawati cited the past instances of “conspiracies hatched by the Congress against the BSP”.
Mayawati appears to be aware that even while her party wins Assembly seats in Rajasthan, the Congress takes them away the lock stock and barrel. Particularly, Gehlot is in the firing line of Mayawati for twice showing his might to gobble up the BSP legislative party in Rajasthan.
Gehlot, who is known to be a master tactician of the Congress in Rajasthan, had twice salvaged the party’s position in Rajasthan after gaining fragile mandate. After the 2008 and 2018 Assembly elections, Gehlot-led Congress had engineered lock stock and barrel defection from the ranks of the BSP legislature party. By engineering wholesome defections from the BSP, Gehlot had consolidated his hold as well as the strength of the Congress in the state Assembly.
Incidentally, the BSP had won six seats each in the 2008 and 2018 Assembly elections. But the BSP could not hold on to the party’s legislative strength as Gehlot engineered wholesome defections from the Mayawati-led outfit to cement his position in Rajasthan. The BSP in fact had been winning Assembly seats in Rajasthan since 1998 state polls, opening the account first with two seats and afterwards improving the positions.
Mayawati has accused the Congress of spreading disinformation against her party for allegedly being soft on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The BSP has strongly refuted the claims. The BSP is contesting all the Assembly seats in Rajasthan assertively by appealing the people to vote against the Congress and the BJP, said Mayawati on the election trails. She is campaigning in Rajasthan and has addressed election meetings in Dhoulpur and Bharatpur districts.
Rajasthan roughly has about 18 per cent vote base of the scheduled castes while the community has influential sway in almost 40 Assembly seats. Mayawati is hoping to become a kingmaker in Rajasthan in the event the people give a fractured mandate.
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