In a bid to test political water ahead of the UP Assembly elections, the BSP supremo Mayawati has tasked her trusted lieutenants to gauge public mood by soliciting their “free and frank” opinion on their preference for a political party in the upcoming state polls. To begin with the party cadre has been asked to conduct the survey in 100 Assembly seats for each caste group, which will later be expanded to cover all the 403 Assembly seats to get a complete picture for the state.
A similar survey of the BSP before the 2009 Lok Sabha polls had predicted the party tally in the range of 20 to 30 out of a total of 80 parliamentary constituencies in UP. The BSP had eventually bagged 19 seats, thus touching the lower range, as predicted in the survey.
Sources said Ms Mayawati has now called for a survey much in advance of the state elections so that she has enough time to react to the findings. Taking note of the fact that the BSP had lost on majority of LS seats reserved for SC in 2009’s elections, Ms Mayawati, added the sources, has included predominantly dalit-dominated constituencies in the first lot of 100 Assembly seats where the “free and frank” survey will be conducted.
The BSP leaders, who have been put in charge to ensure that the survey is carried out effectively, have also been asked to examine voting patterns of each of the caste groups in each of the 100 Assembly constituencies in all elections since 2007, stated the sources. The exercise is also to seriously examine how much damage the Rahul Gandhi has done to the BSP through his sustained campaigning in the state, particularly among the segments where the dalits hold the sway. “After the Lok Sabha elections, certain steps were taken by the party supremo to dispel the perception of the dalits that the brahmins were enjoying the privileged position in the BSP rule.