BSP close to losing national party status

After the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the Election Commission had issued a show cause notice to the BSP, asking why its national party status should not be withdrawn as the party does not meet the requisite criteria of being one.

Being a state party in four or more states is one of the conditions for a party to enjoy the national party status. The BSP is a recognised state party in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Madhya Pradesh.

The BSP had to get over six per cent votes and win at least two seats or secure at least eight per cent votes in either Haryana or Maharashtra to qualify as the recognised state party there.

The BSP, which was recognised as a national party in 1997, had seen a continuous rise in electoral performance since its inception, before a slide in its performance started after 2012 UP assembly elections.

Besides other benefits like getting dedicated broadcast slots on public broadcasters Doordarshan and All India Radio, the party, after being de-recognised as national party, will also not be able to use elephant as a symbol in the states where it is not recognised as a state party.

BSP treasurer and Rajya Sabha member Ambeth Rajan said the risk of losing national party status is the main difficulty the party faces after these election results. “We hoped to get the status of a state party in either of these states and this is our main worry after the results. But, the assembly elections for Jammu and Kashmir and Jharkhand are also to be held and we hope to do better there,” Rajan told The Indian Express.

BSP chief Mayawati had extensively campaigned in both states. Mayawati’s novel approach to announce former Congress MP, Arvind Sharma, as party’s Chief Ministerial candidate in Haryana also did not work. Sharma himself lost from Yamunanagar, where he ended up at the third place with just over 10,000 votes.