Mayawati has to do a lot more to bounce back

Lucknow, June 08(HS) The fear of not faring well in upcoming Assembly by-elections , after the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, in SP company was the main reason behind BSP chief Mayawati’s decision to pull out of the alliance in the state.However, to retain one seat it had won in previous polls and to add a few  more to the list is not an easy task.

She has skipped by-elections and has not contested any after winning the Assembly elections on its own in 2007 but she wants to make an amend and fight these by-elections for two reasons.

First, a major victory will change the mood in the party and bring smile on faces of workers.Two,the party’s tally in the state Assembly which is very low will improve. From 80 in 2012, the party’s strength in the present Assembly has come down to 19,placing the party in third position after the BJP and the SP.

At the grass-roots,the party’s  position also may improve through these by-elections.What is required at present is to bring in more workers and to keep the flock together.The party’s image has suffered a dent and sooner it gets back to the old position the better it is for the party.

The problem is that although she has pulled out, the RLD is still with the SP.The duo can cause damage to the party in areas where Yadavs or Jats dominate.There will more vote splits in these elections because of the end of alliance and upbeat mood of BJP workers because of landslide victory of the party in general elections.

It has also to keep in mind that out of the eleven seats for which by-elections will be held nine were bagged by the ruling BJP.Out of  the remaining two, one was won by its present rival the SP. The BSP was successful in Jalalpur seat where it had got 37 per cent votes. In other three constituencies where by-polls will be held it had acquired second position.It mainly hopes to do better in these constituencies.

Yadavs and some other backward castes have not yet forgiven her for suddenly breaking tie with the SP.They are not yet ready to believe that only Dalit votes were transferred to the alliance. According to them,even many non-Jatavs did not vote her and it is because of this that her party’s vote-percentage marked no increase from the previous polls.

Whatever may be the reason for her limited success in recent Lok Sabha elections,it is absolutely true that alone she has not fared well in any election after 2007.Her popularity graph has been falling since then.She was so unpopular in 2014 that she drew a blank in general elections that year.In the subsequent Assembly elections,too,her party was badly mauled.

In this background a major change in the situation is unlikely to be made.However,she will try very hard as it will be a do or die battle for her. The BJP,on the other hand,hopes to improve because of vote split.There is time for all to rework strategies and write  new s.