BSP to fight J&K polls solo, tie up with INLD in Har: Maya

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Friday said her party will contest the upcoming assembly polls in Jammu and Kashmir on its own and in a e-up with the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana.

Soon after the Election Commission in Delhi announced dates for the polls, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister took to social media and welcomed the much awaited event in Jammu and Kashmir. Assembly elections will be held in Jammu and Kashmir after nearly a decade in three phases from September 18, setting the stage for the people of the Union Territory to elect their first government since the scrapping of Article 370 in 2019.

The EC also declared elections to the 90-member Haryana assembly, to be held on October 1. Results for both the polls will be declared on October 4. “Elections hold a significant role in democracy, as they offer solutions to numerous issues. Therefore, the announcement of the long-awaited assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir today is welcomed.

This will allow political and democratic activities to take root there, as per the Constitution. The BSP will contest this election alone,” Mayawati posted in Hindi on X. In a separate post, she said, “We welcome the announcement of single-phase assembly elections in Haryana. The BSP’s strong alliance with the Indian National Lok Dal is already active on the ground, committed to fighting this election with full strength and forming our coalition government.” In the 2019 Haryana assembly polls, BSP contested on 87 seats, lost deposit on 82 of them and won zero.

The party, however, secured 4.14 per cent of the total votes polled in the state that year. In the same election, the INLD registered victory on one seat, Ellenabad, contested by Abhay Singh Chautala. It contested on 81 seats and lost deposit on 78 of them, according to EC data. In the 2014 polls in Jammu and Kashmir, BSP contested on 50 seats, won none and lost deposit on 49. It garnered 1.41 per cent of the total votes polled in the erstwhile state, the EC

data showed.