BSP-SP tie-up may trip Cong

Bhopal: The BSP and SP, which are contesting the 2019 Lok Sabha election in an alliance, have long been branded political non-entities in parliamentary polls, but a closer look suggests that BSP was the deciding factor in at least four Lok Sabha constituencies in 2014.

The party may not have won any of the 29 seats, but the margin of defeat between Congress and BJP in Morena, Gwalior, Rewa and Satna seats was far less than the votes cornered by BSP candidates.

Since 1991, when Rewa constituency elected Bhim Singh as the first BSP MP from the state, Rewa and Satna constituencies have elected four BSP MPs. Devraj Singh was a member of Lok Sabha from Rewa in 2009, while Sukhlal Kushwah scored a stunning victory against Congress stalwart Arjun Singh from Satna in 1996, heralding the arrival of the third political force in Vindhya region though its impact has not grown beyond Rewa and Satna. The party has not won a seat in Gwalior-Chambal region, but its impact in Morena, Bhind and Gwalior has been decisive at times. The exception is Guna that has not been impacted by BSP’s presence.

In 2014, BSP candidate from Gwalior, Alok Sharma, sealed the fate of Congress candidate Ashok Singh by cornering 6.9% votes in a tight contest, where the margin of defeat was just 3%. The incumbent MP Narendra Singh Tomar got 44.9% votes while Singh got 41.9%.

In Satna, too, the contest was tough with BJP’s Ganesh Singh bagging 41.7% votes against 40.2% of Congress’s Ajay Singh, who wished to move to Parliament after he was not nominated Leader of Opposition in Madhya Pradesh. Here again, BSP’s Dharmendra Singh Tiwari made a decisive impact with 13.8% votes when the winning margin was 1.5%.

BSP’s candidates may have lost their deposit in 27 of the 29 Lok Sabha seats, including Gwalior and Satna, but managed to pull back Congress in four, and felled a Congress stalwart like Ajay Singh.

The contest at Morena was between BJP and BSP. BJP’s Anoop Mishra secured 44.2% votes against 28.6% of BSP candidate Brindawan Singh Sikarwar. Sikarwar’s performance cut into votes of Congress candidate Dr Govind Singh, who was expected to give a tough fight to BJP. In Rewa, sitting BSP MP Devraj Singh Patel secured 21.4% votes, widening the gap between BJP’s Janardan Mishra and the Congress by more than 20%.

Political analyst Jairam Shukla said, “BSP has been a force to reckon with in pockets of Vindhya and Chambal since 1990s, but the situation this time is different. All the established names in BSP have either been expelled by the party supremo or have quit and joined Congress. BSP votes, at least in the December 2018 assembly election, saw a distinct shift towards BJP in Vindhya region. In this situation, how well the party fares in 2019 Lok Sabha election remains to be seen.

BSP SHOW IN 2014

Contested all 29 seats

Lost deposit in 27 seats

Vote share was 3.8%

Impacted results in Satna, Rewa, Morena and Gwalior