Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati on Wednesday reacted to the debacle in Uttar Pradesh scoring a zilch in the Lok Sabha elections 2024, saying despite the party gave it a "proper representation" in elections, the Muslim community is not able to understand the BSP.
Expressing disappointment, she said going forward, the party will give the community an electoral opportunity only after a lot of thought.
Last time Mayawati's party drew nil in the Lok Sabha elections 2014. However, the BSP bounced in 2019, but it did well when it was an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party winning 10 seats.
She expressed her gratitude to the Dalit community, especially the Jatavs, for supporting the party, but also expressed her displeasure towards the Muslims.
"The Muslim community, which is an important part of the Bahujan Samaj Party, is not able to understand the BSP properly despite being given proper representation in the past elections and this time also in the Lok Sabha general elections.
"So, in such a situation, the party will give them a chance in the elections after a lot of thought so that the party does not suffer a huge loss in the future like this time," Mayawati said.
The BSP had fielded 35 Muslim candidates, the maximum, in the latest general election.
She said since the results are out, it is up to the future leaders of the country to think about the country's democracy, its interests, and the Constitution.
Mayawati also raised her objection to the election being conducted in extreme heat and argued against the long-drawn election process which may become exhausting to the common people as well as the lakhs of government employees deployed on election duty.
The election should be held in three or four phases at the most, she added.
(With PTI inputs)
