Exclusive/ Lok Sabha Polls 2024: 10 BSP MPs to Quit BSP, May Join BJP Soon | Full List Here

Lok Sabha Elections 2024: In a massive setback to the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) ahead of Lok Sabha Elections 2024, a total of 10 MPs are planning to quit the Mayawati-led BSP, sources told Republic TV on Wednesday. Of the 10 MPs who are contemplating to quit BSP, 4 are planning to join the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said Republic TV sources. Though an official confirmation is awaited, sources familiar with the matter said that Shyam Singh Yadav, Ritesh Pandey and Sangita Azad are in contact with the BJP. Besides, several other BSP MPs are in contact with the Samajwadi Party (SP) and BJP.

BSP MPs Who Have Quit/May Quit The Party

• Jaunpur - Shyam Singh Yadav
• Lalganj - Sangita Azad
• Ambedkar Nagar - Ritesh Pandey
• Shravasti - Ram Shiromani
• Bijnor - Malook Nagar
• Amroha - Kunwar Danish Ali
• Saharanpur - Haji Fazlur Rahman
• Nagina - Girish Chandra Jatav
• Ghosi - Atul Kumar Ray
• Ghazipur- Afzal Ansari (Already Quit) 

Why BSP MPs are Planning to Quit?

Though an official confirmation over MPs quitting BSP is awaited, sources have learnt that the leaders feel that winning elections in the party is now unlikely as Mayawati has announced to go solo in the Lok Sabha elections 2024. Her decision to contest the poll alone is scaring the current MPs, said sources. 

Earlier last month, Mayawati stated that her party will go solo in the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha elections and will fight on all seats against every party. BSP will neither join hands with the Opposition nor with the ruling NDA and work independently in Uttar Pradesh, she added.

Addressing reporters on the occasion of her 68th birthday, the Uttar Pradesh former Chief Minister Mayawati said, “There are a lot of speculations that I am retiring from politics but it's not true. Akash Anand is now the successor of the party and I will continue to strengthen the party in Uttar Pradesh ahead of Lok Sabha polls. The party works for poor and marginalised communities and we are committed towards the party and not withdrawing from the political arena.”

The decline of BSP started after the 2012 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. However, Mayawati in 2012 assessed that the loss of her votes was major because of the shift of Muslim votes in the pockets of the Samajwadi Party. The decline of the Bahujan Samaj Party in Uttar Pradesh in 2022 is nothing short of a collapse.

The Rise and Fall of Mayawati in Electoral Politics

In 2007, BSP won a small majority in the state assembly- 206 out of 403 seats- with 30.4 per cent of the votes. The fragmentation of the electorate meant that winning thresholds were generally low at the constituency level on an average of 35 per cent of the vote from 2002 to 2012. In 2012, the Bahujan Samaj Party captured 80 seats with 25.9 per cent of the vote. In 2017, it garnered only 19 seats with a 22.2 per cent vote share. After the 2017 elections, most commentators thought that the party had reached its floor.

In 2022, however, the Bahujan Samaj Party suffered a massive electoral loss with vote percentage dipping to 12.9. The party has now been reduced to a single seat in Rasra, Ballia district, which elected Umashankar Singh, a first-time contestant who has a business background.