By Gyan Verma
A little over four months before the crucial Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is facing a battle to remain politically relevant in the state. Once a formidable force in state politics, the party under former chief minister Mayawati has seen its electoral influence steadily shrink in recent years.
Although Mayawati and the BSP have remained out of the government, both at the national level and in Uttar Pradesh, since 2012, when she lost the state polls, the BSP suffered a recent loss after its last Member of Parliament (MP) in the Rajya Sabha, Ramji Gautam, is scheduled to finish his term in office and is set to retire in November this year.
His retirement is also significant because, for the first time in over three decades, the BSP will not have a representative in Parliament, including the Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha.
“We are aware that BSP does not have a representative either in Lok Sabha or in Rajya Sabha. When we do not have the legislative numbers in any state, including Uttar Pradesh, then how can we make any Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha member,” Rajesh Tanwar, chief of BSP in Delhi, told Outlook.
Tanwar said that there is a deliberate movement in the country to weaken the Scheduled Caste community. “The effort to weaken and undermine the Scheduled Caste community is being done by capitalists, but we will fight back, and we will soon have political power in Uttar Pradesh when the elections happen," he added.
BSP’s Shrinking Footprint In Uttar Pradesh
The BSP’s electoral decline became evident in the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, when the party was reduced to 80 seats and lost power in the state. Its fortunes deteriorated further in the 2017 polls, with the party’s tally falling sharply to just 19 seats.
“It is true that BSP has not been performing well in elections in the past decade, but we are not worried. The strength of BSP are workers of the party, and we are confident that in the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BSP will not just become a significant political force, but BSP will also form a government in Lucknow in April 2027,” Tanwar added.
Even though Gautam’s retirement, the BSP Member of Parliament in Rajya Sabha, has set the alarm bells ringing for the party, as BSP has no Lok Sabha or Rajya Sabha presence now, the real crisis for the party began in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh polls, when BSP could only win one assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh.
During the Rajya Sabha elections from Uttar Pradesh, political parties need the support of at least 37 legislative assembly members to get their candidate elected, but BSP does not have the required number to contest the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections.
“Mayawati lost her government in Uttar Pradesh because of the corruption allegations and infighting within the organisation. The corruption allegations against Mayawati have stayed with her and now she is promoting dynasty politics, which is against the ethos of Kanshi Ram. These are the two main reasons for the decline of BSP,” Vijay Bahadur Singh, a former Lok Sabha member of BSP, told Outlook.
BSP’s Lok Sabha Fortunes Continue To Fade
The decline in the Lok Sabha fortunes of Mayawati and infighting within the BSP could be the two possible reasons why the BSP failed to make a comeback in national politics. The problem for the BSP supremo started at the national level in 2014 when PM Narendra Modi-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won a historic mandate at the national level, but the Mayawati-led BSP could not win any Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.
“The problem for Mayawati started after she lost power in Uttar Pradesh in the 2012 Assembly polls. We must remember that Mayawati gained power because she managed to bring together upper caste Brahmins and Dalits in Uttar Pradesh,” said AK Verma, Director, Centre for the Study of Society and Politics (CSSP).
He told Outlook that Mayawati could not retain the social base and lost support base drastically in Uttar Pradesh. “The combination of Brahmins and Dalits coming together for Mayawati could not be repeated again by her because her voter base shifted towards BJP.”
While Mayawati did make a slight comeback in the 2019 general elections when BSP won 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati could not retain those seats in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls and yet again failed to win any seat in Lok Sabha.
“The failure to retain power and voter base has also led to infighting within the BSP and some of the senior leaders of the party are no longer with Mayawati. The problems within the BSP continue even now, and that is a big reason why Mayawati has lost her voter base,” Verma explained.
With the BSP set to lose its presence in Parliament and its electoral footprint in Uttar Pradesh having shrunk sharply, the party now faces a crucial test ahead of the 2027 Assembly elections. For Mayawati, the challenge is not only to rebuild the party’s electoral base but also to retain its relevance in a political contest increasingly dominated by larger players.
