Mayawati's Andhra gambit: Align with local party JSP to boost BSP's equity
Mayawati, Pawan Kalyan
On Sunday, March 17th,Jana Sena Party (JSP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) had announced seat sharing alliance in Andhra Pradesh according to which Mayawati's party decided to contest in three reserved SC Lok Sabha - Chittoor, Tirupati and Bapatla. It'sBSPchief Mayawati's latest gambit to ally with local parties in order to increase her political equity in across the country.
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Actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan who formed the Jana Sena in 2014 has been a flagrant supporter of Mayawati. Kalyan earlier campaigned for the TDP-BJP combine during the 2014 general elections.
The Jana Sena chief has also roped in CPIand CPM to fight the polls along with the BSP with the state going to the polls in both Assembly and Lok Sabha elections simultaneously.
JSP hopes of mounting a challenge to the two big state parties - chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's Telugu Desam Party (TDP) andJagan Mohan Reddy's YSRCP.
Mayawati gambit to play the Dalit card in the state in order to bolster BSP credentials in the state and also attempt an all-India profile for the party which is best known for being an UP outfit.
BSP will also be fighting in 21 Assembly seats in a seat-sharing agreement with JSP ensuring a "Mahagathbandhan" style appeal in the state. Kalyan had in fact even pitched Mayawati as the next prime minister asserting that the country needed her services while praising her administrative skills.
The former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh went a step further and promised Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh, an issue which has become a bone of contention between Andhra and the Modi government. Mayawati during a joint press conference with JSP chief also said Congress had made a mistake by bifurcating Andhra Pradesh.
Mayawati has used the same pitch to further her cause in the home state - Uttar Pradesh - where she has aligned with enemy-turned-friend Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party. The BSP-SP combine hopes to dislodge the NaMo army during the Lok Sabha polls, even a dent in the BJP vote bank will mean a victory for Mayawati who has felt sandwiched between a marauding BJP and a resurgent SP under Akhilesh Yadav.