In the Maharashtra camp there are a large number of Dalits, but the presence of Gautam Patil and Prahlad Deshmukh even surprises state unit president Vilas Garood.

Kerala BSP vice-president Advocate Prahladan is even more thrilled, leading some “elite” Namboodiri Brahmins as part of the 95 from his state to the camp. He is confident the BSP will enter the Assembly this time. “The BJP may be a national party but we will be the first one other than the United Democratic Front (UDF) and Left Democratic Front (LDF) to make a place in Kerala politics,” he said. Last week, the unit got a further boost when the Janata Dal (Secular) merged with it.

But the biggest delegation from the south is from Tamil Nadu, and it is led by Periyaar Aanban, the chairman of the Vellore district Panchayat Board. Pointing out that the BSP has several corporators in the state’s municipal bodies at present, he is optimistic the situation will improve in the coming elections.

Dr Gundeep Kumar, who has come from Kathua, Jammu and Kashmir, says the party will win at least two Lok Sabha seats in the Assembly elections in the state next year. Leading a team of 150 to the camp, Kumar noted that the BSP already has five legislators in the House and the eye is now on the Lok Sabha.

Every seat in the Lok Sabha, each one of the BSP workers tells you, takes Mayawati one step closer to the Prime Minister’s chair.