On Wednesday (5th June), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati blamed the lack of support from the Muslim community for the party’s debacle in Uttar Pradesh in the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections 2024. Notably, results for 543 Lok Sabha seats were announced on 4th June in which BSP failed to open its account in the state or across the nation. In a press release on Wednesday, the BSP Supremo expressed disappointment over the lack of support from the Muslim community and stated that despite giving enough representation to them, the party didn’t get adequate support in return. She added that from now onwards, BSP will only give them representation after “thinking properly” so that the party “won’t suffer such losses”.
“We gave enough representation to Muslims in this Lok Sabha election as well as in previous elections but we did not get adequate support and they couldn’t understand us well. Therefore from now onwards, we will only give them opportunity after thinking properly so that the party won’t suffer such loss,” Mayawati was quoted saying by news agency ANI.
We gave enough representation to Muslims in this Lok Sabha election as well as in previous elections but we did not get adequate support and they couldn’t understand us well. Therefore from now onwards, we will only give them opportunity after thinking properly so that the party…
— ANI (@ANI) June 5, 2024
She, however, expressed gratitude to the Dalit community, especially those hailing from her caste community for casting the majority of their votes in favour of the BSP.
In the press release, she also expressed concerns about the stretched duration of the electoral exercise, especially due to the intense summer heat which reportedly led to a drop in voter enthusiasm and voter turnout. She asserted that the elections should have been conducted in a few lesser phases to avoid hardships to the voters, lakhs of government employees, security personnel, and officials employed in the election process.
She added that they had maintained that if the elections were conducted in a free and fair manner, the election results would definitely be positive and shocking. She stressed that now that the results are before the public, they have to think about the country’s democracy, constitution, and national interest and decide what impact the election results will have on their lives and how peaceful and prosperous their future will be.
05-06-2024-BSP PRESS NOTE- LOK SABHA POLL RESULT REACTION pic.twitter.com/iUYELFPnCM
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 5, 2024
She said, “Apart from this, the entire country’s eyes were fixed on UP in this election and the results that came out here are also in front of the public. Our party will take this seriously and analyze it thoroughly at every level and will take whatever steps are necessary in the interest of the party and the movement because B.S.P. apart from being a political party, it is also a movement for people’s self-respect. That is why our response will also be purely dedicated to the democracy of the country and the sanctity and strength of the teachings of the most revered Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar, so that the interests of crores of poor, exploited, Dalits, tribals, backward people and Muslims and other religious minorities of the country are protected.”
She further asserted, “And now I have to say that our missionary religion is to work hard with full dedication, devotion, and honesty, following the paths shown by the most revered Baba Saheb Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar.”
She concluded by saying, “..Also, the Muslim community, a special part of the Bahujan Samaj Party, which despite giving proper representation in the last several elections and this time also in the Lok Sabha general elections, is not in favour of B.S.P. If they are not able to understand it properly, then in such a situation, they will be given a chance by the party in the elections only after a lot of thinking. So that the party does not suffer such a huge loss in the future as it did this time.”
In Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party won 37 Lok Sabha seats and became the single largest party in the state while the BJP won 33 seats. Congress has won 6 seats whereas BJP’s allies Apna Dal and RJD won 1 and 2 seats respectively. While BSP failed to open its account, Azad Samaj Party head Chandrashekhar Azad won from Nagina.
