Buoyed by Bypoll Wins in UP, BSP Chief Mayawati May Contest 2019 Lok Sabha Polls

Lucknow: BSP chief Mayawati has got into the poll mode for 2019 Lok Sabha battle and may spring a surprise by jumping into the fray herself from her old constituency Ambedkar Nagar.

Mayawati is considering contesting direct elections in order to galvanise the party cadre and to give out a strong message of resistance against the BJP.

As per highly placed sources in the BSP, the job to identify suitable seats for the BSP Chief is already underway and Ambedkar Nagar and Bijnor seats have been zeroed in.

The SP-BSP victory in Gorakhpur and Phulpur bypoll has given the much-needed oxygen to the two former arch-rivals-turned-friends in the state.

BSP chief, who stopped fighting for the lower house after 2004, is looking to change her stand and test the poll waters again.

Recently, on his two-day visit to the state, BJP president Amit Shah had reportedly asked his cadres and social media volunteers to work out the strategy for polls keeping the SP-BSP coalition in mind.

After becoming the national president of BSP in 2003, Mayawati had decided not to contest the direct polls and has been taking the upper house route to legislature both at the centre and the state.

In 2007, after forming the government in UP, Mayawati took up the membership of Council, while in 2012, she was elected to Rajya Sabha. It was only in July last year that the BSP chief had quit her Rajya Sabha membership as a mark of protest.

The Ambedkar Nagar district, which is close to Faizabad, has often been seen as cradle of BSP's politics. Interestingly, Ambedkar Nagar Lok Sabha seat came into existence after delimitation in 2002, previously it was known as Akbarpur Lok Sabha Seat. Past history of Akbarpur and then Ambedkar Nagar LS seat shows a clear dominance by the BSP. It is a seat which the BSP chief had represented in Lok Sabha in 1998, 1999 and 2004.

The other seat in Western UP, Bijnor, from where Mayawati might contest in 2019 LS Polls, has been chosen keeping in mind the alliance between the BSP and the SP.

Interestingly, Mayawati has also been a Member of Parliament from Bijnor during her early days of political career.

In the present circumstances, Ambedkar Nagar seems to be the most preferred choice for Mayawati. At a time when Samajwadi Party national president and former CM of state Akhilesh Yadav has already declared to contest from Kannauj, Mayawati's candidature will surely give a big boost to joint opposition's morale.