With an eye of the Lok Sabha polls, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has opened its doors for those who a large number of leaders who had been thrown out of the party for alleged anti-party activities and indiscipline.
Ms Mayawati, who arrived in Lucknow on Monday, has started a massive exercise to review the position of BSP candidates on all the Lok Sabha seats. Over the next two weeks, she will be meeting coordinators and legislators from each parliamentary constituency to assess the position of the BSP candidates.
The BSP president is now ready to take back some of the leaders whom she had shown the door during the regime and the biggest factor for their return is the winnability factor. Announcements to this effect will be made later.
The BSP, as a rule, does not take back leaders who go out of the party but this time, Ms Mayawati is making an exception.
The most prominent re-entry in the BSP is that of former minister Rakesh Dhar Tripathi who had been made to resign after being indicted by the Lokayukta on corruption charges. Ms Mayawati had denied a ticket to Mr Tripathi in the 2012 Assembly polls but he is said to be back in the BSP fold after “apologising for his misdeeds”.
Mr Tripathi is likely to be made the BSP candidate for the Pratapgarh Lok Sabha seat where the sitting MP is Rajkumari Ratna Singh of the Congress.
The BSP had earlier announced R.K. Varma as its candidate on the Pratapgarh seat but the BSP president is all set to change the candidate after receiving adverse reports.
Another leader making a comeback in the BSP is Jitendra Singh Babloo, a former MLA and an accused in the torching of former UPCC president Rita Bahuguna Joshi’s house.
Ms Mayawati has denied ticket to Babloo in the Assembly polls from Faizabad and the latter unsuccessfully contested the polls on a Peace Party ticket.
Former BSP minister Anees Ahmad a.k.a. Phool Babu had contested the Assembly elections on a Congress ticket after he was sacked , following his indictment by the Lokayukta. Mr Ahmad is likely to contest the Pilibhit Lok Sabha seat on a BSP ticket.
Former MLAs Rakesh Goswami (Mahoba) and Ram Sewak Shukla (Banda) are also poised for a return to the BSP. “Ms Mayawati is taking back only those leaders who have apologised to her for their lapses and mistakes. If they fit into the caste equation of their constituency and are in a position to win the seat, she has no qualms about fielding them,” said a senior party functionary.