BSP to contest UP by-polls alone, Mayawati asks party members to be ready: Sources

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has asked her party members to be ready to contest the by-polls in Uttar Pradesh solo, indicating the end of BSP-SP-RLD alliance, which had contested the Lok Sabha elections 2019, according to sources. “It was a closed-door review meeting, election results were discussed. It was analysed why we lost, how we lost. Several issues including EVMs were discussed. No decision or discussion took place on the future of Gathbandhan,” said BSP sources told news agency ANI.

On Monday, addressing a meeting in New Delhi, Mayawati conveyed to party leaders that the grand coalition hadn't yielded the BSP desired results, and the SP had failed to get Yadav votes transferred to her party candidates.

She asked party leaders to start short-listing candidates for the 11 by-elections which will be held because these legislators have been elected to the Lok Sabha.

Nine legislators of BJP have won Lok Sabha elections while one legislator each from BSP and SP have been elected to the Lok Sabha.

Meanwhile, state BSP President RS Kushwaha told reporters that EVMs were mainly responsible for the poor performance of the BSP in the Lok Sabha elections.

The BSP won 10 Lok Sabha seats from Uttar Pradesh. The party had contest 38 seats.

The Samajwadi Party, on the other hand, had contested 37 seats and could win only five. The Rashtriya Lok Dal had contested three seats and could not win even one.

Interestingly, both Mayawati and SP President Akhilesh Yadav have not said a word on the future of the alliance till now.

The SP-BSP grand coalition, many said, would trounce the Modi-Shah-led BJP, but the saffron wave swept Uttar Pradesh, with BJP alone winning 62 seats.