Facing an uphill task to beat the anti-incumbency factor, BSP supremo Mayawati appears to have tweaked her famed social engineering by putting her faith in Most Backward Castes (MBCs) and Muslims more, apart from dropping half the sitting party MLAs. While Ms Mayawati has resorted to discarding a large number of BSP MLAs, her rival political parties are latching on these spurned leaders to turn the tables on the ruling party in the state.
The BSP supremo, sources said, is pinning hope on her strategy that a large number of sitting MLAs released from her stable would be latched by rivals, which would help her blunt the anti-incumbency factor. “She is well aware that the discarded BSP MLAs are being latched on by the rival parties. The anti-incumbency factor is also very strong against the sitting MLAs. So the strategy is very clear and rivals are clearly falling in the trap,” said a senior BSP functionary.
The BSP supremo also appears to have seen an opportunity among the MBCs, as she has given tickets to a large number of people from the community. After releasing the list of candidates for all 403 Assembly seats, with party leaders not ruling out the possibility of more changes in the names of announced candidates, Ms Mayawati spent some time in the national capital at her residence with her close family members.
She appears to have succeeded in her strategy so far, as the Samajwadi Party continues to change the candidates till date to accommodate the BSP discards. The Congress and BJP too are accommodating a large number of the BSP leaders who have been denied tickets. “It’s also intended that as the SP or other parties field the former BSP leaders they may well face strong rebellion from within their cadres. This is already happening in some of the areas, which will spread further,” added the functionary. However, Ms Mayawati appears to be sticking with her 2007 caste formula, that the dalit and upper caste would form the core of her support base.