Lucknow in addition to labour has favoured BSP
Lucknow in addition to labour has favoured BSP
Lucknow,July 26(HS)Luck may not favour all the braves.But it has certainly favoured the Bahujan Samaj Party.It had fared badly in two elections,one Assembly and another Lok Sabha and had got the threat of losing the national status.In fact,notices were served on three parties in 2014 including this in this connection.
But came amendment in the rule in 2016 and it was saved.Before the amendment by the Election Commission,there was one election rule.The national status was based on performance in one general or state election.It was changed to two– one general election and one Assembly election or two general elections or two Assembly elections.
The amendment was retrospective in nature.It was made effective from beginning of the year 2014,a few months ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
The party was in for trouble again after 2014 .In that year it had drawn a blank in Uttar Pradesh where it is based.In the subsequent Assembly election it did poorly again in the state.The number of seats in the Assembly nosedived to 19 in 2017 from 80 five years ago.The best year for the party was 2009 when it had bagged 21 Lok Sabha seats.
The Samajwadi Party came to its rescue.The party had no love lost for the BSP for more than two decades.It was its worst enemy after 1995 when it had withdrawn support from it,leading to infamous UP State Guest House incident where party chief Mayawati was saved by some BJP men.
The party was suddenly in love with the BSP in January this year. Forgetting every thing done by the party in the past,it agreed to join hands with Mayawati to forge an alliance before the general elections.Nothing could be more pleasing to her.It gave her a chance to bounce back and fare better in her home state.
As much damage as expected was not done to the BJP but the alliance with the rival-turned-friend helped her a lot.The SP did not gain anything.It won the same number of seats (five) in 2019 elections but she improved her tally greatly. From zero it became a “hero”.It won ten seats as against zero in 2014.
Most of the followers had deserted her in 2014 and 2017 and gone to support the BJP which scored resounding victories in both the years.Some of them came back to her, may be for this reason or some others.
To the SP’s ill luck,she did not wait for long but dumped the party just a few weeks after the announcement of general election results.
In addition to UP,the duo had fought general elections together in some other states including neighbouring Uttarakhand. Either because of these alliances or something else ( there has been no detailed study of the reasons for victory)the party vastly improved its vote share.
As far as state elections are concerned,besides the home state,she has done better in Rajasthan .She has won three more seats there(total six) and increased vote percentage to more than six,enough to be recognised as a state party.
To be recognised as a national party,one of the conditions is that the party should be listed as a state party in four states.There are two other conditions.Fulfillment of one of them qualifies to become a national party which it is at present, in addition to six others.
However,three of these parties,the NCP,the CPI and the TMC,have been served notices last week asking why their national status should not be withdrawn.
