SP, BSP failed to come up with satisfactory performance in the state

Nainital, March 9
Despite having made an early start to the poll preparations in the state, the two arch rivals, the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), have failed to come up with a satisfactory performance in the state.

While the SP has once again failed to open its account in the state Assembly second time in a row, the seats of the BSP have come down to a poor three from eight in the outgoing Assembly.

The SP’s best bet was on the Haldwani seat where it had fielded senior leader Abdul Mateen Siddiqui, who had come up with a good performance in the 2007 elections. However, he failed miserably this time and came in a poor third on the seat.

In case of the BSP, the party has been wiped out from its stronghold in Udham Singh Nagar and all three seats that its candidates have won are in the Haridwar parliamentary constituency.

A senior leader of the party said: “Developments in the neighbouring Uttar Pradesh have always had a bearing on Uttarakhand politics, particularly in the bordering districts. The BSP was routed there. We never had a chance of doing well here too.”

Ironically, while the Congress and the BJP were still witnessing a turmoil with regard to the allocation of party ticket to potential contestants for the poll, the BSP and the SP had taken a lead of sorts by having already announced candidates for several seats and proceeding ahead with their campaign.

Showing better organisational skills as compared to their political counterparts, the BSP and the SP had devised a strategy for contesting the poll. While the SP was aiming to get a firm foothold in the state by changing the mindset of the voters, particularly those residing in the hill areas who view the party as a force opposed to the very creation of Uttarakhand, the BSP after having done considerably well in the previous two elections in the plain areas of the state was aiming to climb up the hills.

In fact, the BSP had demonstrated the best political foresight. It had been the first party to have started announcing candidates for the elections. These announcements had come almost a year ago, thus giving the maximum time to the ticket holders to devise their campaign strategies and start executing it.

It was way back in August 2010 that the party took serious note of the fact that although its rallies and public functions were very well attended, the number did not convert into votes.

Senior party leaders and Ram Achal Rajbhar, a member of the Mayawati Cabinet in the UP, had sat down together to come over this hurdle.

Interestingly, the BSP leadership had shown inclination to have a centralised structure in place in the party. Its leaders were of the opinion that greater the number of wings of a political party, greater are the chances of infighting.

Upbeat over the party’s performance in the political arena over the past 25 years since its inception, the leaders were using this as an instrument to boost the morale of its workers.

The party leadership had already started analysing the demographic profile of various Assembly segments several months ago in view of the scenario emerging after delimitation. In the outgoing Assembly, the BSP had eight legislators from Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts.

The SP, too, had been quick to decide upon its candidates for the poll. A senior party leader had told The Tribune on the eve of the poll announcement that, “Instead of focusing on contesting more seats, we want to concentrate on seats where we have a strong winning chance.” Party leaders had claimed that the new delimitation had provided the party with a chance to make its presence felt in the next Assembly.