BJP confident after Swamy Prasad Maurya ouster

With Swamy Prasad Maurya, an OBC leader, quitting Mayawati-led BSP party alleging rampant corruption and selling of tickets, the BJP seems confident that the development could help its strategy in upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. BJP’s poll strategists in UP are focusing mainly on OBC’s, including dalits, which are numerically a dominant votebank.

Targeting the BSP over corruption issue is part of the BJP’s election strategy. Many political pundits are predicting that the Mayawati-led party will make a comeback in the state, currently with Mulayam Singh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party.

Now, with Mr Maurya’s accusations, the BJP feels that its strategy could get a boost in the state and it could help the party in garnering support.

Mauryas together with Shakyas, Sainis, Malis, Kushwaha and others constitute around 14 per cent of the 52 per cent OBC population in the state. Keeping in mind the caste arithmetic and the dominance of the OBC’s in the state politics, the BJP had named Keshav Prasad Maurya as its state unit chief.

Though speculation is rife that Mr Maurya could join Mulayan Singh Yadav-led SP, the BJP feels that his exit from the BSP could prompt his supporters as well as the Maurya vote bank to rethink on voting for the BSP.

As part of its election strategy, BJP leadership has been reaching out to the OBC vote bank in Uttar Pradesh and highlighting how BSP has been indulging in corruption and has no interest in promoting the dalit interest.

BSP’s core vote bank consists of dalits, mainly jatavs. Though BJP is reaching out mainly to the non-jatavs in Uttar Pradesh, it is also making efforts to reach out to jatavs, who have been left disillusioned by the BSP and looking for options.