3 days ago
BSP to bank on ‘janata ka gathbandhan' to revive fortunes in 2027 UP elections
Lucknow: In the 2027 UP assembly elections, the
Bahujan Samaj Party
's antithesis to political 'gathbandhan' (alliance)" will be 'janata ka gathbandhan' (alliance of people).
This is the idea with which the party wants to make a comeback to power, 20 years after it formed a majority govt in UP in 2007.
To make it happen, the party has started applying strategies it adopted in 2007. The basic activity was mobilising people from 'sarv samaj' (every caste and community) at the booth level and making them aware of the party's plans for growth and development.
"We have started doing it again. We are informing people from various castes and communities about what all 'Behenji' after BSP formed the govt. We are also informing people about the constant onslaught being made by the Congress and the BJP on the constitutional provisions for SCs and backwards," said UP BSP president Vishwanath Pal.
"The idea is to unite people from various backgrounds at the booth level against the propaganda of opposition parties. BSP plans to win by riding on 'janata ka gathbandhan'," he said.
In the 2022 assembly elections, BSP won only one seat in UP (Rasra in Ballia) and polled over 12.8% of votes.
The 2024 Lok Sabha elections did not do any good to the party's dropping political stakes in UP. It lost all the 10 seats won in 2019, and the vote share shrank to 9.4% from 19.4% in 2019.
To tighten its grip on voters at the ground level, the party has taken to micro-planning and has started organising 'chaupals' and 'baithaks' at every booth in villages, in which senior and local functionaries are interacting with the people.
Since booth is the micro-unit of electoral setup, BSP has pinned its hopes there. 'Chaupals' and 'baithaks' at the booth level may also not require local villagers to commute to some spot away from their homes to listen to party workers. "It is almost like a door-to-door meeting where maximum voters can be mobilised," said Pal.
