BSP declares 3rd list for UP polls

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) continued to make a pitch to the Muslim voters as the party announced its third list of 100 candidates for the Uttar Pradesh polls.

The BSP has announced 300 candidates so far for the 403-member UP assembly and is ahead of the BJP, SP and Congress in this respect.

The third list named 24 Muslim nominees, taking the number of candidates from the community to 82 so far.

The Muslims constitute nearly 20 per cent of the voters in UP and had, by and large, supported the SP in the 2012 elections. However, this time they are looking for clear signals from the SP, which has been mired in faction fights between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Over the past few days despite several rounds of negotiations, there has been no compromise between the two sides, with both claiming the party’s poll symbol, the cycle. Both sides have readied affidavits signed by their supporters to present them before the Election Commission. The next development could take place on Monday, said party sources. Mayawati is watching the SP family war closely and is likely to announce the remaining candidates on Sunday. After that they would hit the ground, said party leaders, indicating that the BSP might get the first-mover advantage and benefit from the confusion in the SP camp.

Giving the caste-wise details of the shortlisted candidates, Mayawati had said 87 tickets would be given to Dalits, 97 to Muslims and 106 to OBCs.