BSP to contest Bihar polls alone: Mayawati

Patna: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday announced that her party would contest the forthcoming Bihar assembly elections independently and had finalised a detailed plan for organisational programmes after two days of intensive discussions. Taking to her social media handle on X, Mayawati posted, "As the Bihar assembly elections are set to occur in the next few months, an in-depth discussion and review were conducted over the past two days with senior officials regarding the selection of BSP candidates and preparations at every level of the party." "During the discussion, plans for various party programmes were also finalised in light of the decision to contest the elections independently," she added in a post in Hindi. Mayawati further wrote, "In the meeting, party officials were instructed to address the mentioned shortcomings and move forward with full dedication and resources. They were also given special responsibilities concerning the party's journey and public meetings scheduled to start at the beginning of next month. All these programmes will be under the guidance of the BSP party chief, that is, myself." She dded that "the special responsibility for Bihar has been assigned to the party's national coordinator, Akash Anand, the central coordinator and Rajya Sabha Member, Ramji Gautam, and the BSP Bihar state unit." Mayawati had on March 2 expelled her nephew Akash Anand from all party posts, but after he issued a public apology, she reinstated him in April and, a month later, elevated him to the post of chief national coordinator. The BSP supremo added, "Since Bihar is a large state, and considering its current needs, a decision was made in the meeting to divide all the 243 assembly seats into three zones and assign responsibility to senior party members. Along with the party's own preparations in Bihar, the party members assured the seniors in the meeting that the BSP would deliver better results in the elections, considering the rapidly changing political situation and electoral equations in the state."