Bahujan Samaj Party to contest all 48 Lok Sabha seats in Maharashtra

Projecting its national president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati as the “Dalit prime ministerial candidate” for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, the Maharashtra unit of Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has announced that it will field its candidates in all 48 Lok Sabha seats in the state. The candidate list is being readied in Delhi, said a party leader.

In the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had contested 47 seats in Maharashtra but failed to open its account. It also fielded candidates in all 288 constituencies in the 2009 assembly elections without success. Nevertheless, the BSP would be the only party in the state to field candidates in all constituencies. The party has 20 MPs in the present LS.

The state unit of the party is trying to build its network across the state for the past six months. To maximise electoral prospects among Dalits in the state, the party is projecting Mayawati as the Dalit PM candidate.

“We have to project Mayawati’s successful stint as the UP chief minister, especially while handling law and order, and administration. She is the national Dalit leader as against other Dalit leaders in the state like Ramdas Athawale and Prakash Ambedkar who have limited influence,” said Vilas Garud, president of Maharashtra BSP.

Garud claimed he has been able to establish the cadre across the state and over 10,000 people are attending party meetings in every district.