The BSP had begun its association with the Madhya Pradesh right from the days of Kanshi Ram. Although the party could bag only seven seats in the last Assembly election, it polled 11 per cent votes. “Nearly 20 candidates of the BSP got 30-35 percent vote polled,” recalled a source. The state has already sent one BSP member to Parliament. As per the party’s assessment, 12 seats are put under the ‘A’ category this time. “A category means those parliamentary constituencies where the party had performed well and bagged more than two lakhs votes,” explained a party insider.

The candidates’ list of the Madhya Pradesh unit is still awaiting Mayawati’s approval.

Rajasthan and Delhi

“Gone are the days when we used to play the role of spoilsport. The Assembly elections in four states (Rajasthan, Delhi, MP and Chhattisgarh) were an eye-opener for us. Now we hope to win seats in these states,” a senior leader said. The party’s vote-share in Rajasthan was about 8 per cent while it had won six Assembly seats in the state. “The party has selected two of its Rajasthan MLAs as Lok Sabha candidates in Rajasthan,” another source said. In Delhi, the party has announced the names of its candidates for all the seven seats. “The main focus of the party is on South Delhi, North-West Delhi and East Delhi seats,” the source added.

Punjab and Haryana

The party has almost completed the candidate-selection process in Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana, besides Uttar Pradesh. “These are the states in which the party’s important brotherhood committees have already accomplished what they set out to do, while the booth committees are functioning well,” said a source, describing the relatively early selection of candidates in these states. For example, the party has already cleared the names of 12 candidates out of a total of 13 seats in Punjab. These candidates include former governor B K N Chhibber for Amritsar, retired IFS officer Surjeet Singh for the Jalandhar seat and former Sessions Judge Gurnam Singh Sewak.

... contd.