Aiming at a repeat of its success in the recent Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in which it secured a majority on its own, the Bahujan Samaj Party has now started preparations for the Lok Sabha polls.
The party, which is of the view that the next parliamentary election could be held sometime next year, has begun preparations much in advance, focusing on strengthening its base, both in the state and outside, party sources said.
The BSP feels that completing ground work well in advance will enable it to gain an advantage over its rivals, and it has hence started the exercise for the next Lok Sabha polls, sources said.
They said the aim to was to win maximum seats in the elections to help the BSP play a greater role in national politics.
The party is also working hard at consolidating its base in states like Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, where Assembly elections are round the corner, they said.
For this purpose it has assigned its senior leaders to undertake extensive tours of these states and garner support of smaller parties and "disgruntled" leaders of other political parties.
BSP president Mayawati recently visited Himachal Pradesh and undertook a two-day trip to Gujarat.
Her close confidante Satish Misra, who helped the party gain the backing of Brahmins in the recent Assembly elections in UP, has been trying to repeat this trend in Rajasthan through the 'Brahmin sammelans'.
Besides sounding out party workers and coordinators, the preliminary exercise of giving a green signal to prospective candidates in almost 40 per cent of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh has been completed so they can start the ground work in their respective areas, sources said.
Those who have been sounded include the majority of sitting MPs, leaders of other parties who joined the BSP and others who suit the caste and other equations of their respective areas.
Mayawati is personally involved in minutely discussing various equations and combinations to prepare the party in different constituencies, especially those which are regarded strongholds of opponents, sources said.
For the recently concluded Assembly elections too, BSP had undertaken a similar exercise, starting poll preparations much in advance.
"By the time other parties were busy finalising their candidates, we were half way into campaigning and besides this, other factors helped us romp home victorious," a source said.