The dreams of BSP supreme Mayawati to occupy the country's top post appears to have faded with her party faring badly in the just concluded Lok Sabha polls.

The Bahujan Samaj Party, which fielded the highest number of candidates – 503 – among all political parties, could win only in 21 constituencies, that too none beyond Uttar Pradesh. This marked a success rate of just 4.17 per cent.

The LJP, headed by Dalit leader Ram Vilas Paswan, was the worst performer among all parties and it drew blank. As many as 80 candidates had contested the Lok Sabha polls, and all including Paswan himself bit the dust.

Among the Left parties, the CPI, which is on the verge of losing the status of a national party due to its drubbing in the polls, could win just four seats out of 81 it had contested showing a poor success rate of only 7.14 per cent.

RJD, headed by Lalu Prasad, which had contested 44 seats, mainly in Bihar and Jharkhand, could win just four seats -- a sharp fall from the 24 it had held last time. The performance rate of the party is just 9.09 per cent.

The NCP, whose leader Sharad Pawar was another aspirant for the Prime Ministership, won only in nine constituencies out of the 65 it had contested. The success rate of NCP is 13.85 per cent.

The CPI-M, which too suffered badly in its strongholds of West Bengal and Kerala, had fielded candidates in 81 seats, but could win only in 16 showing a success rate of 19.75 per cent.

... contd.