Operation Reboot: Mayawati to rebuild BSP, revive cadre camps

Lucknow, May 1 (IANS) The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh is now working to rebuild its cadres and regain lost ground before the next Lok Sabha elections.

It was because of this that Mayawati rubbished reports of her being made a Presidential candidate.

The party, according to sources, has decided to focus once again on its core voters -- Dalits, in general, and Jatavs in particular.

Jatavs who constitute almost 54 per cent of the Dalit population in Uttar Pradesh have been crucial to the BSP's growth in the state.

In the recent Assembly elections, there was a sizeable shift in Jatav voters from the BSP to the BJP which led to a more than ten per cent loss of vote share for the BSP which could win only one seat.

"The party president has realised that the �Sarvjan' concept will work only if Dalit voters stand with BSP. Now that we have lost our Dalit vote base to the BJP in a sizeable part, the priority is to reclaim this vote and position ourselves as a major player in state politics," said a party functionary.

BSP chief Mayawati has said her party lost because its core voters, Dalits and Muslims, did not vote for it in huge numbers as earlier and moved over to other parties.

The BSP's main strategy for the 2024 general elections is regaining base among the Dalits and the Muslims, especially since the Muslims are getting visibly disenchanted with the Samajwadi Party (SP).

The party will now be holding cadre camps to induct young blood and ensure greater political activity at the grassroots level.

These cadre camps, over the years, have helped the BSP to reach out to its voters and pick committed workers from among them.

Party sources said that Mayawati was no longer averse to taking back leaders who had left the party.

"She said that she was misled in some cases and wants old timers to return to the BSP fold," the party functionary said.

However, this seems easier said than done because former BSP leaders claim that there is no guarantee they will be allowed to have free access to her in the future.

"We certainly do not want to repeat the story by going back to the BSP. Mayawati should learn to remove the middlemen in the men if she wants to revive the party. We were never informed of the charges against us and were simply shown the door. Is this how a political party works?" asked an expelled party leader.