Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party continues to grapple with the decision of joining the I.N.D.I.A bloc immediately, or await the right moment. Mayawati maintains a distance from both the NDA and the I.N.D.I.A, yet her leaders advocate for alliance participation to revive the party and broaden its voter base beyond the Jatav community.
An insider says that joining I.N.D.I.A would expand the party’s voter support, due to the alliance’s broader support from multiple parties, whereas going solo might not attract anti-BJP votes easily. Many BSP MPs, including Shyam Singh Yadav, and other leaders, have been vocal in the media, endorsing a potential alliance with I.N.D.I Alliance.
However, an expert aware of matters says that there may or may not have been talks between Congress and the BSP to be part of the bloc; however, the BSP makes its strategies well in advance, almost a year before the elections. Had BSP thought of being part of the alliance, it would have been in the beginning, but it seems hard for BSP to change its strategy just four months before the elections.
Mayawati’s press statement in Lucknow makes it clear about BSP’s strategy. She responded to the statement where SP President Akhilesh Yadav asked whether Congress was in talks to bring the BSP into the I.N.D.I.A bloc. “Congress needs to clarify its stance because then the SP will also have to consider staying in the India Alliance”. Mayawati responded by stating that the comments made about BSP in the alliance meeting were inappropriate and no one knew when and whose support might be needed.
This statement showcases that BSP will wait for the golden moment, and if there is some support needed by the I.N.D.I.A bloc, BSP would be in a good position to negotiate, said a source.
After the failure of Mahagathbandan with the Samajwadi Party in the 2019 elections, where the BJP won 64 seats, reducing the SP-BSP alliance to 15 seats out of the total 80 seats in the state, the BSP is not confident about any pre-poll alliance. Working on a new strategy, the BSP has announced a new head, Akash Anand, whose plan is to win back the trust of a large chunk of the Dalits, particularly non-Jatavs, who have moved to the BJP due to Mayawati’s political inactivity, creating a vacuum in Dalit politics.