Only BSP can beat BJP, says Mayawati after giving ‘tough fight’ in Azamgarh

LUCKNOW: Citing the ‘tough fight’ that her party candidate Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali gave to BJP’s winning candidate Dinesh Lal Yadav ‘Nirahua’ in the Azamgarh bypoll elections, Mayawati on Sunday said that only Bahujan Samaj Party has the ‘principles and presence’ on the ground to beat Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh.
Insisting that her party was in a ‘neck and neck’ fight in the bypoll, Mayawati tweeted that it is usually seen that bypolls are won by the ruling party but given all the designs of the opposition, the ruling BJP and the Samajwadi Party, BSP still gave a tough fight.“The party workers of all levels have to keep moving ahead more strongly.”
She indicated that BSP would continue its efforts to reach out to “specific sections” of the society (hinting at Muslims and Dalits who constituted considerable voters in Azamgarh) to make them understand the party’s power and usher in the long-awaited political change in the state.
BSP nominee Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali bagged 2,66,210 votes (29.27 per cent) as against the BJP candidate's 3,12,768 and the Samajwadi Party candidate Dharmendra Yadav’s 3,04,089.
BSP had abstained from contesting Rampur by-poll openly accepting that the party does not have a ground ready in Rampur and will contest the seat in 2024 general elections.
Azamgarh bypoll was the first election after the UP Assembly elections 2022 that the BSP had contested and had fared badly by winning only one seat.
The party had put 40-plus star campaigners to woo voters in Azamgarh.
Mayawati reached out to people through social media and appealed that they should vote for the local candidate (Guddu Jamali is from Azamgarh) and not the outsiders.
She had tweeted that Azamgarh bypoll was a chance for the people to kill two birds with one stone. First, they can teach BJP a lesson for their anti-people schemes like Agnipath and bulldozer-policy and second, they can give Samajwadi Party a befitting lesson for its tacit understanding with the BJP.
BSP was banking heavily on Dalit and Muslim voters for its win in Azamgarh.
A day before the by poll on June 23, Mayawati said that her party was getting huge support from the people of all religions and sections. “I have full faith that this mass support, irrespective of shenanigans of the opposition, will convert into votes for the party,” she said.