BSP eyes revival in West UP as Mayawati plans mega rally in Noida on December 6
The BSP will hold a rally at the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) on December 6 to mark the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. After 14 years, Mayawati will address a public meeting in Gautam Buddha Nagar. She last visited the district on October 14, 2011 to inaugurate the Dalit memorial. The district, which houses her ancestral village Badalpur, saw several development projects during her tenure as chief minister.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati has decided to demonstrate the party’s strength in western Uttar Pradesh after a rally in the state capital on October 9, the death anniversary of party founder Kanshi Ram.
The BSP will hold a rally at the Rashtriya Dalit Prerna Sthal in Gautam Buddha Nagar (Noida) on December 6 to mark the death anniversary of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar. After 14 years, Mayawati will address a public meeting in Gautam Buddha Nagar. She last visited the district on October 14, 2011 to inaugurate the Dalit memorial. The district, which houses her ancestral village Badalpur, saw several development projects during her tenure as chief minister.
Mayawati has strategically chosen Noida to mobilise party cadres from all western UP divisions -- Meerut, Agra, Aligarh, Saharanpur, Moradabad and Bareilly. The BSP plans another mega show of strength after the Lucknow rally. The BSP leadership considers West UP the door for revival of the party’s fortune in UP politics.
The West UP districts with large concentration of Dalits, particularly Jatavs, was once the stronghold of the BSP. The BSP worked on the Dalit-Muslim formula to win the seats in successive assembly and Lok Sabha elections in these districts.
After the BSP’s formation in 1984, Mayawati contested her early Lok Sabha elections from the region -- Kairana in 1984 and later Bijnor, from where she won in 1989. She also won twice from the Harora assembly seat in Saharanpur district in 1996 and 2002. She resigned from the Rajya Sabha on July 18, 2017 in protest against violence targeting Dalits in Saharanpur.
However, after losing power in the 2012 assembly elections, the BSP’s influence in western UP began to wane, with the BJP making inroads into its Dalit vote bank and the Samajwadi Party consolidating Muslim support. Muslims make up 30-40% of the population in several districts of the Rohilkhand region, making their votes crucial.
To make a comeback in the state politics in the 2027 assembly elections, Mayawati is working to regain the lost ground in West UP. However, the rise of the Azad Samaj Party, led by Chandrashekhar Azad Ravan, has emerged as a challenge for the BSP. With the Noida show, Mayawati plans to send across a message that she maintains hold over the supporters and is in comeback mode after losses in successive elections.
After the Bihar assembly elections, the political circle is abuzz with speculation that BSP may form an alliance with Asaduddin Owaisi’s All-India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) which bagged five seats while BSP won just one.
Interestingly, BSP candidate Satish Kumar Yadav, who secured victory from the Ramgarh assembly seat, addressed a press conference with the BSP and AIMIM banners and flags on the dais after his victory.
The BSP had launched the Grand Democratic Secular Front (GDSF) in the 2020 Bihar assembly elections, allying with the Rashtriya Lok Samta Party (RLSP), AIMIM, Samajwadi Janata Dal (SJD), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Janvadi Party Socialist (JPS). That year too, the AIMIM had won five assembly seats and BSP one.
Political observers are of the view that if the BSP forms alliance with the AIMIM in 2027, it may hurt the Samajwadi Party’s prospects. If the Dalit-Muslim formula works, the BSP will win the seats, leading to its revival in other regions of the state as well, they opined.
A BSP leader said the party chief had announced that they would go solo in 2027 UP assembly elections. With over a year to go for the polls, she might amend her strategy, he said.
Mayawati is camping Delhi these days, holding meetings of the leaders and office-bearers of the various state units and reviewing preparations for the December 6 Noida rally.
BSP chief Mayawati plans a significant rally in Noida on December 6, marking Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar's death anniversary, to assert her party's influence in western Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2027 assembly elections. After 14 years, this event aims to mobilize support from key districts and counter challenges from rival parties. The BSP seeks to revive its Dalit-Muslim coalition strategy for electoral success.