Despite 3rd highest vote share, BSP ahead in just 3 seats

Despite Mayawati's pre-poll claims that her Bahujan Samaj Party would spring a surprise in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, the party was leading in only three of the 403 seats in the state, trends showed Thursday.

The BSP, a national party fighting all constituencies in the state like it did in 2017, was trailing even in areas like Agra and Ambedkarnagar, which were considered its strong-hold.

According to the Election Commission website at 12:50 PM, the BSP was leading on three seats but had a vote share of 12.85 per cent, the third highest in the state after BJP and Samajwadi Party.

BSP's Umashankar Singh, who had won from Rasara seat in Ballia in 2017, was leading over nearest SBSP rival Mahendra by nearly 2,000 votes, the EC showed.

The party candidates were also leading in Hapur, Jalalpur in Ambedkarnagar district and Menhdawal in Sant Kabir Nagar district.

Trends were available for 401 of the 403 seats at the time of the filing of this report.

In the 2017 assembly polls, the BSP had contested all 403 seats and won only 19 of them while its deposit was forfeited on 81 seats. The party had polled over 22 per cent of the total votes cast in 2017.

”Our party is preparing and contesting the polls with full might to once against form a government with full majority,” BSP supremo Mayawati had said on February 14 while addressing a rally in Orai.

The former UP chief minister had also trashed opinion polls that projected BJP and Samajwadi Party as main stakeholders in the state, claiming her party would repeat a 2009-like performance and spring a surprise.

Counting of votes for UP assembly elections was underway. Final results were yet to be declared.