The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) will look at options other than an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) soon after the upcoming Assembly by-polls in Uttar Pradesh. It has decided to go it alone in the 11 by-polls scheduled to be held soon in the State.

BSP supremo Mayawati had apparently announced at a meeting of SP leaders in Uttar Pradesh that her party did not benefit from the alliance with the SP. She also hinted that a new course should be charted after looking at the outcome of by-polls to be fought without an alliance with the SP.

A senior leader of the BSP told BusinessLine the decision was announced after assessing the performance of both the parties in the State. “She announced in the meeting that the alliance with the SP is over. She said we will fight the by-polls alone. She also asked us to prepare ourselves for a completely new direction that the party is going to take,” the leader said.

Usually, the BSP does not contest by-polls. She told the gathering at the party headquarters in Lucknow that the BSP won 10 seats in Uttar Pradesh due to BSP’s traditional vote bank and the votes of the SPcould not be transferred to its candidates.

‘A new structure’

She cited poor performance of its alliances in various States during Assembly and the Lok Sabha election to drive home the point that the BSP will have to strengthen its own organisational structure and not depend on other parties to win votes.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also pressed for the need to increase the involvement of members of other backward classes in the party organisation.

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