New Delhi: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is likely to contest all 70 seats in the upcoming Assembly polls in Delhi, with the first list of candidates likely to be released by mid-January. A party official said the city has been divided into five zones and the process of finalising candidates in all the zones is underway.
Talking to PTI, he said the Delhi Assembly polls, due in February, are both "interesting and challenging". He said coordinators have been assigned to each of the zones to oversee the candidate-selection process. "These central coordinators will finalise their recommendations and send them to Behenji (BSP chief Mayawati). The final decision on the candidates will be based on these recommendations," the official said.
The list of candidates is expected to be finalised by January 15. The BSP contested all the 70 seats in Delhi in the 2020 Assembly election but failed to win any, securing a vote share of 0.71 per cent. The party contested all 70 seats in the capital in 2015, 2013 and 2008 as well. In 2003, it contested 40 seats, according to the official.
The BSP's vote share was 1.13 per cent in 2015, 5.35 per cent in 2013, 14.05 per cent in 2008 and 5.76 per cent in 2003. The party achieved its highest vote share in Delhi in 2008 and won two seats. Currently, small-scale meetings are being held at the ground level, where key issues and agendas are discussed, and the candidates will be selected based on these discussions, the BSP official said.
He also revealed that the poll campaign is likely to be launched on January 5. Once the election dates and candidates are announced, Mayawati and her successor will actively participate in the campaign, holding rallies under the guidance of the coordinators. The elections to the 70-member Delhi Assembly are likely to witness a direct contest between the ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which has been in power in the capital since 2015, and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Campaigning is already underway. The AAP has released its final list of 38 candidates, with party convenor Arvind Kejriwal contesting from the New Delhi constituency and Chief Minister Atishi from Kalkaji.
