<p class="title">Unlike the Assembly election held in November last year, the Congress is not even thinking of aligning with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), much less sending feelers to Mayawati.</p>.<p class="title">Instead, Chief Minister Kamal Nath has virtually demolished the BSP leadership by bringing over a dozen of its top leaders into the Congress fold ahead of the Lok Sabha election.</p>.<p class="title">Among the ten BSP leaders who joined the Congress on March 10, are two former state presidents and a former MP.</p>.<p class="title">They are Pradeep Ahirwar and Satyaprakash Jatav.</p>.<p class="title">Another set of BSP leaders including a former MLA joined the Congress on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="title">The defection coincided with BSP supremo Mayawati’s announcement that her party will have no truck with the Congress in any state.</p>.<p class="title">Kamal Nath who is also the state Congress president was present during the occasion at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office where the leaders joined the grand old party.</p>.<p class="title">The BSP brushed aside the development saying that these leaders were already expelled due to their anti-party activities.</p>.<p class="title">But party insiders admit that the exodus of these leaders from the BSP has severely hit the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha election.</p>.<p class="title">In the Assembly election, the BSP managed to win just one seat while its vote share shrunk to well below 5%.</p>.<p class="title">Having engineered defection in the BSP, a resurgent Congress is looking to win two seats each in Vindhya and Chambal regions where the Mayawati’s Scheduled Caste vote bank is concentrated.</p>.<p class="title">In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BSP candidates polled more votes in Gwalior and Morena (Chambal region) and Satna ( Vindhya) than was the margin of defeat of the Congress candidates in these constituencies.</p>.<p class="title">In the Assembly election last year, however, the BSP’s vote share drastically came down.</p>.<p class="title">Mayawati has refused to join hands with the Congress for a pre-poll alliance with it ahead of the state Assembly elections held in November last year.</p>.<p class="title">Later, the BSP entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Samajvadi Party. Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, too, the SP and the BSP have entered into a pre-poll alliance in Madhya Pradesh.</p>.<p class="title">The SP will contest in three seats while the BSP will field its candidates on the remaining 26 seats.</p>.<p class="title">In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BSP had drawn blank from Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BSP had one MP from Madhya Pradesh.</p>
<p class="title">Unlike the Assembly election held in November last year, the Congress is not even thinking of aligning with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), much less sending feelers to Mayawati.</p>.<p class="title">Instead, Chief Minister Kamal Nath has virtually demolished the BSP leadership by bringing over a dozen of its top leaders into the Congress fold ahead of the Lok Sabha election.</p>.<p class="title">Among the ten BSP leaders who joined the Congress on March 10, are two former state presidents and a former MP.</p>.<p class="title">They are Pradeep Ahirwar and Satyaprakash Jatav.</p>.<p class="title">Another set of BSP leaders including a former MLA joined the Congress on Wednesday.</p>.<p class="title">The defection coincided with BSP supremo Mayawati’s announcement that her party will have no truck with the Congress in any state.</p>.<p class="title">Kamal Nath who is also the state Congress president was present during the occasion at Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) office where the leaders joined the grand old party.</p>.<p class="title">The BSP brushed aside the development saying that these leaders were already expelled due to their anti-party activities.</p>.<p class="title">But party insiders admit that the exodus of these leaders from the BSP has severely hit the party's prospects in the Lok Sabha election.</p>.<p class="title">In the Assembly election, the BSP managed to win just one seat while its vote share shrunk to well below 5%.</p>.<p class="title">Having engineered defection in the BSP, a resurgent Congress is looking to win two seats each in Vindhya and Chambal regions where the Mayawati’s Scheduled Caste vote bank is concentrated.</p>.<p class="title">In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, BSP candidates polled more votes in Gwalior and Morena (Chambal region) and Satna ( Vindhya) than was the margin of defeat of the Congress candidates in these constituencies.</p>.<p class="title">In the Assembly election last year, however, the BSP’s vote share drastically came down.</p>.<p class="title">Mayawati has refused to join hands with the Congress for a pre-poll alliance with it ahead of the state Assembly elections held in November last year.</p>.<p class="title">Later, the BSP entered into a pre-poll alliance with the Samajvadi Party. Ahead of the Lok Sabha election, too, the SP and the BSP have entered into a pre-poll alliance in Madhya Pradesh.</p>.<p class="title">The SP will contest in three seats while the BSP will field its candidates on the remaining 26 seats.</p>.<p class="title">In 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BSP had drawn blank from Madhya Pradesh. Earlier, in 2009 Lok Sabha polls, the BSP had one MP from Madhya Pradesh.</p>
