BSP list: Muslims get 97 tickets, 10 more than Dalits

Lucknow: Playing the Muslim card to the hilt, BSP chief Mayawati gave on Tuesday the most Assembly poll tickets to candidates from the minority community: 97, up from 61 in 2007 and 85 in 2012.
Dalits, who Mayawati considers her most trusted vote bank, are in second position on BSP’s list with 87 seats, two more than the 85 seats reserved for SCs in the state.
Muslims account for roughly 19% of UP’s population and Dalits 21%. Mayawati’s attempt for a stronger Muslim outreach is reflected in a bigger share of tickets going to Muslims compared to Dalits. Mayawati had fielded 88 Dalits in 2012 and 89 in 2007. BSP’s performance in the reserved seats was not up to the mark in the 2012 elections: It won just 16 seats compared to 62 in 2007.
“There will be no change in the list now,” Mayawati declared at a press conference, announcing that BSP would contest on all 403 seats and would not enter into any alliance. “We are strong enough to fight alone,” the BSP chief said.
In contrast to the importance given to Muslims and Dalits, Mayawati has fielded fewer Other Backward Castes (OBCs) this time compared to previous elections. OBCs, whose share is 45% in the population, have been given 106 tickets this time, down from 120 in 2007 and 113 in 2012. Political observers say Mayawati is apprehensive of getting support from OBCs after the rebellion by her trusted OBC face Swami Prasad Maurya, who joined BJP in August last year.
BSP has given 106 tickets to the upper castes. This is down from 139 in 2007 and 117 in 2012. With 66 seats, Brahmins have been given the lion’s share among the upper castes. However, this is far less than 86 seats in 2007 polls, when Brahmins’ support was one of the main factors behind BSP attainting absolute majority in the assembly .Mayawati has decided to field 36 Thakurs this time, which is three more than in 2012.

To a question why Muslims did not show confidence in BSP during 2014 Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati said, “They got divided and that eventually brought BJP to power at the Centre.”

Akhilesh, not BSP, our best bet: Riot victims

At a time when all political parties are trying to woo Muslim voters in UP, in Muzaffarnagar, where riots displaced more than 50,000 and left 62 dead three years ago, Muslims said their best bet to stop BJP is chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. Not dismissing the possibility of a substantial chunk of Muslim votes going to BSP in the event of a split in SP, Muslims said that among large sections of the riot victims there is an element of resentment against Mayawati as “BSP leaders, especially Mayawati, never came to find out how we were coping after being uprooted by the violence.”

Mohd Hassan, who lost his mother during the riots said, “Behen ji was nowhere to be seen when we were freezing in the winter of 2013-14. How can we trust her now?” Idrees Ahmad, a native of Kutba told TOI “the BSP never goes beyond tokenism. Akhilesh is very vocal about his sympathy for our community. We can relate to him.”

Source: The Times of India