LUCKNOW: In a surprise move,
BSP has decided to field its national coordinator
Ramji Gautam
for the tenth
Rajya Sabha
seat from UP, though it lacks the numbers to win the seat on its own. The candidature of Gautam is learnt to have been finalised in a meeting of party MLAs on Thursday. According to sources in the party, Gautam’s selection is crucial as belongs to dalit community, a votebank which Mayawati needs to consolidate before the next assembly elections in the state.
“BJP has the numbers to win eight seats while SP can win only one. Both will have left over votes. A candidate needs 36 votes to win while BSP has 15. This does not include Anil Singh and Mohammed
Aslan
Raini who have rebelled against the party, and don-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, who is in jail. The question is, if BSP is serious about winning this seat, where will it get support from,” a party member said. Sources said Gautam’s nomination is likely to be filed on October 26. The election is scheduled for November 10.
Gautam, along with Mayawati’s nephew Akash Anand, was named national coordinator in June 2019. He worked at a private firm as a chemical engineer before joining the party in 2015. Currently, he runs a business of pesticides and agriculture-related chemicals. “Gautam, who hails from Lakhimpur Kheri, is also working as coordinator for
Rajasthan. He has also worked in southern states.
His candidature is important for the party as it sends out the message to the cadre that if they work hard, they will be rewarded. The decision is crucial ahead of assembly elections as it would rejuvenate workers,” a party member said.
“Dalits are unhappy with BJP even though they have supported it in previous elections. It is important for BSP to win back the support of its core voter if it has to win the next election,” he said, adding that the party was already trying to woo Brahmins.