Tuesday, 29 June 2021 | PNS | Dehradun
The BSP Supremo Mayawati’s decision of going it alone in Uttarakhand has ensured multi cornered contests in assembly constituencies of Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar in the crucial assembly elections slated early next year. Though the strength of BSP which once was a formidable political force in Uttarakhand has decreased substantially in recent times the party believes that it has a chance in Haridwar and Udham Singh Nagar districts. Both these districts have a sizeable population of Dalit and Muslims, the traditional vote banks of the party in the state. Haridwar district has a population about seven lakh Dalit and Muslim votes presents a good prospective for BSP in the elections.
In Haridwar, the BSP had won five assembly seats in the assembly election of the year 2002 and improved with six seats in the assembly elections of 2007 but in the elections of 2012 the party could manage to win in only three seats in the district while it drew a nil in the elections of 2017. In Udham Singh Nagar BSP had won Sitarganj and Pantnagar- Gadarpur seats in the elections of 2002 and 2007 but in the last two elections the party has fizzled out there.
A look at the performance of the party suggests that in the first and second assembly elections BSP presented a good performance but the slide started in the third elections (2012) and the party logged in its worst performance in the elections of 2017 where it failed to win even a single seat.
BSP cornered 10.9 percent votes and won seven seats in the first assembly elections of Uttarakhand in the year 2002. In the elections of 2007, the party increased its vote percentage to 11.8 to bag eight seats. In the elections of 2012, the party further increased its vote share and cornered 12.2 percent of total votes polled but could manage to win only three seats (Manglaur, Bhagwanpur and Jhabreda). However the party assumed the position of Kingmaker as it helped in the formation of a Congress government in the state. However the party was decimated completely in the assembly elections of 2017 in the state and now faces an uphill task in the upcoming election for putting in a good performance.
Performance of BSP in Uttarakhand
| Assembly elections | Vote percentage | Seats won |
| 2002 | 10.9 | 07 |
| 2007 | 11.8 | 08 |
| 2012 | 12.2 | 03 |
| 2017 | 7.0 | 00 |
