Lucknow: The Modi blitzkrieg on Friday destroyed the BSP, leaving Mayawati, who once harboured hopes of becoming India’s first Dalit prime minister, without a single Lok Sabha seat in Uttar Pradesh.
In a verdict that sent the BSP in mourning, not one of its candidates could claim victory despite hectic campaigning by Mayawati and two of her trusted lieutenants: Naseemuddin Siddiqui and Satish Chandra Mishra.
The Bahujan Samaj Party had won 20 Lok Sabha seats in 2009.
But Election Commission data showed that the BSP had finished second in 33 of the 80 constituencies in the sprawling state.
Having lost the 2012 assembly polls to arch rival Samajwadi party, the BSP was widely expected to bounce back in the Lok Sabha battle, largely owing to strong anti-incumbency against the Akhilesh Yadav government.
The results, party leaders admitted, were most unexpected.
“This is a body blow to us. We need to sit and do a post-mortem,” a senior outgoing BSP MP who lost on Friday, said. (IANS)
