SAD-BSP alliance may not deliver in Punjab Assembly polls

While the BSP is barely relevant, the SAD is trying to recover lost ground in the farming community

  The Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) recently decided to jointly contest the Punjab Assembly elections, due early next year. The announcement has set the tone for the upcoming polls, even as keen political observers feel the alliance may not yield the “desired” results for either party. In Punjab, which has the highest percentage of Dalit population among the States at close to 32%, the BSP used the Dalit vote as a political plank for the first time in 1992. However, since then, the party has received a declining response in the State. In 1992, it secured over 16% votes winning nine seats in Punjab, but that dropped to around 4% in the 2012 Assembly polls. In 2017, the BSP’s vote share percentage hit a further low of 1.5%. Now, with the new alliance, the BSP is attempting to remain “relevant” in State politics.