In list of 64 BSP candidates so far, SCs only fielded in reserved seats. 10 Brahmins & 5 Thakurs fielded, but they’re unlikely to create dent in BJP’s ‘upper-caste’ vote base, say experts.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati during a campaign meeting in Nagpur Thursday. | ANI

By SHIKHA SALARIA

Lucknow: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has fielded several ‘upper-caste’ and Muslim candidates in the Lok Sabha elections, looking at the winnability factor, but its social engineering, if political experts are to be believed, might hurt the INDIA bloc more than the National Democratic Alliance (NDA). 

While the Mayawati-led BSP’s Muslim candidates have the potential to harm the prospects of their INDIA bloc counterparts, the party this time has also fielded a significant number of ‘upper-caste’ (UC) candidates, who might take away a few votes of the NDA candidates. 

However, political experts said that several of its UC candidates were “non-entities”, which, along with the BSP’s declining fortunes, signals that the party may not make any significant dent in the BJP vote bank, which has been loyal in past elections.  

This story was originally published in theprint.in. Read the full story here.