'Solo fight ahead': Mayawati rules out tie-ups for 2027

BSP chief Mayawati's political comeback speech on the 19th death anniversary of party founder Kanshi Ram saw the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister target the principal opposition Samajwadi Party (SP) more than the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

- SHIKHA SALARIA

She even thanked the Yogi Adityanath-led government for “not usurping” the revenue from ticket sales at Lucknow’s Rashtriya Dalit Smarak and for using it towards the monument’s maintenance.

Throughout her address, Mayawati urged supporters to help the BSP form the government “on its own” and reiterated that there would be no alliance with any party— a stand the BSP has maintained since the 2022 Assembly elections.

Founded by Kanshi Ram in 1984, the BSP reached its peak in 2007 when it formed the government in UP. However, since 2019, its support base has steadily declined— from one seat and 12.8 per cent vote share in the 2022 Assembly elections to zero seats and 9.39 per cent in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Once commanding the loyalty of the state's 21 per cent Dalit population, the BSP has seen the non-Jatavs drift towards the BJP, while even a section Mayawati's of the Jatavs own community - moved to the SP-Congress alliance in 2024.