Both the parties, which bank heavily on dalit and minority votes, have a common support base and a BSP candidate entering the fray could have queered the pitch for Congress which has fielded Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna's son Saket Bahuguna from the seat, political observers here feel.
However, BSP decided not to join the fray from the high-profile constituency as filing of nominations for the forthcoming bypoll came to a close on Saturday.
The seat fell vacant after Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna resigned from it following his victory from Sitarganj Assembly constituency.
Explaining why the party chose not to field a nominee from Tehri, Uttarakhand BSP chief Meghraj said the party has not been contesting bypolls of late as it wants to concentrate on the 2014 General Elections.
"2014 Lok Sabha elections are our target. Party workers are busy preparing for that. We don't want to divert their attention to a lone seat bypoll," the BSP leader today said.
Meghraj cited the instances of the recent Kannauj Lok Sabha bypoll in Uttar Pradesh and the Sitarganj Assembly bypoll in Uttarakhand which BSP did not contest.
