Maya suffered setback in reserved constituencies

Soon after her drubbing in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati had said her core vote bank comprising Dalits was behind her in the polls and it was owing to their “wholehearted” support that her party was able to win 80 seats.

An analysis of the Assembly poll results, however, disputes her claims and said the BSP suffered serious setback in the reserved constituencies also as the Samajwadi Party made handsome gains on these seats.

Samajwadi Party candidates emerged winners in 45 of the 85 reserved constituencies in the state.  

The BSP could secure victory in only 16 reserved seats, while the Congress and BJP candidates were successful in five seats each. The rest of the seats were bagged by smaller outfits and independents.

In the 2007 Assembly polls, the BSP had fared well in the reserved constituencies. In fact its performance on the reserved seats was largely responsible for it being catapulted to power with an absolute majority then. The party had won a whopping 61 seats last time, while the SP was able to register victory on only 13 reserved seats.

In the 2012 Assembly polls, the SP, in a bid to counter the BSP’s “Dalit card” in the reserved constituencies, fielded non-Dalit scheduled caste candidates.

“Our aim was to garner the non-jatav votes,” said a senior SP leader. The non-jatav card of the SP paid rich dividends in the polls as with their support coupled with the votes of “Yadav” and some other communities, SP nominees had a smooth sailing in these constituencies.

Mayawati may not have admitted this publicly, but during the recent meeting of the party office bearers and zonal coordinators, she lambasted them for not being able to ensure support of the SC votes in the reserved constituencies.