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There is still time for the 2027 assembly elections on the political pitch of Uttar Pradesh, but the effect of its enthusiasm and strategies is already clearly visible. There was a time when Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) used to rule the power in Uttar Pradesh with absolute majority, but in the last few elections, there has been a huge decline in the graph of the party. In such a situation, the biggest question floating in the politics of the country and the state is whether Mayawati will be able to make a comeback in the battle of 2027 and will she be able to make her solid political place amidst the strong maze of Akhilesh Yadav and Yogi Adityanath?

Is the biggest challenge before BSP is to save its old vote bank?

At present, the biggest and serious crisis facing BSP is to bring back its old lost vote bank. Meanwhile, there is a lot of discussion in the political circles about the country's well-known election strategist Prashant Kishore (PK). The question being raised in political circles is whether Mayawati can take the help of a professional election strategist before leaving the battle of 2027? However, till now no official confirmation of any formal conversation has emerged between Prashant Kishor and Mayawati or any top BSP leader.

Mayawati's party was once at the pinnacle of power, how is the condition now?

If we look at the past political journey of BSP, there has been a huge difference in the performance of the party. In the 2007 assembly elections, BSP created history by winning a landslide victory on 206 seats and formed a government with absolute majority on its own.

But on the contrary, in the 2022 assembly elections, the party slipped to just one seat. The situation did not stop here, but immediately after this, in the Lok Sabha elections of 2024, BSP was not even successful in opening its account. This is the reason why before the great contest of 2027, the biggest challenge for the party has become to restore its lost political ground and existence.

Why did Prashant Kishore's name come into discussion?

Recently, there was a stir in Maharashtra politics when election strategist and founder of 'Jan Suraj Party' Prashant Kishore had a long meeting with Sunetra Pawar and her son Parth Pawar in Mumbai. After this meeting, a round of speculations started regarding the future political equations of Maharashtra and Maratha, Dalit and Muslim votes.

After this incident, the question also started floating whether Mayawati can also take PK's advice or help before the Uttar Pradesh elections. However, if we look at the traditional politics of BSP till now, Mayawati has never trusted external strategists. She has always contested elections on the strength of her strong grassroots cadre, brotherhood committees and network of state level coordinators. On the other hand, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has worked closely with Prashant Kishor's company I-PAC in the past, so it is very natural for such discussions to arise before 2027.

Where did the dent come in Dalit vote bank and social engineering?

The strongest and main base of BSP has long been the Dalit community, especially the 'Jatav' community. Dalit, Brahmin and Muslim equations have always been the party's surefire weapon in its successful social engineering. But in the politics of the last decade, BJP has strengthened its hold among the non-Jatav Dalit communities. The inclination of castes like Pasi, Dhobi, Valmiki and Kori is gradually increasing towards BJP.

Apart from this, the party has also suffered a big blow due to the decline of Muslim votes. Seeing the weakness of BSP in the alliance of 2019 and then in the elections of 2022 and 2024, Muslim voters joined Samajwadi Party and Congress on a large scale to defeat BJP, due to which BSP had to bear the direct loss.

Why is it very important to get on the ground and agitate?

Political analysts clearly believe that ever since the party was out of power, the grassroots activism of BSP and its big leaders has reduced considerably. Keeping distance from agitating among the public and fighting on the streets is considered to be the biggest reason for the decline in the party's support base.

Experts also say that now just issuing press notes and making statements on social media will not work. If BSP really wants to come closer to power in 2027, it will have to take to the streets directly on the burning issues to Dalits, backward classes and youth. A big movement will have to be launched in the state on serious issues like paper leak, skyrocketing inflation and custodial deaths. Also, non-Jatav Dalits and extremely backward castes will have to be given bigger positions and responsibilities in the organization.

'Save Constitution' narrative caused loss and new hope from Akash Anand

During the Lok Sabha elections 2024, SP and Congress set such a strong narrative of 'Save the Constitution', which made a big dent in the traditional Dalit votes of BSP. In such a situation, Mayawati faces a tough challenge to bring these angry or lost voters back into her fold.

Even today, Mayawati is the biggest and most recognized national leader of the Dalit community in Uttar Pradesh, but due to the softness in her political activism, disappointment has been seen many times in the party cadre. On the contrary, leaders like Chandrashekhar Azad have been seen doing politics with a more aggressive attitude for some time.

Amidst all this, Mayawati's nephew Akash Anand is being seen as the future of BSP. At present he is holding the responsibility of National Coordinator of the party. With the aggressive style in which Akash Anand delivers speeches in his public meetings, he is trying to create a direct connect with the youth and especially Gen-Z. Recently, in Saadabad, Hathras, he openly raised issues like employment, education and self-respect and made sharp attacks on the government.

Padyatras can breathe new life into the party

Even today, Mayawati seems to be the main influence and final seal on all the organizational decisions of the party, but the 2027 assembly elections are not just a fight to return to power for the BSP, but it is the biggest test to save its existence and political existence.

If Mayawati gives a little more freedom to Akash Anand in the matter of organization and election decisions in the coming days, and he takes out aggressive padyatras across Uttar Pradesh before the elections, then surely a new energy can be infused into the party's sluggish cadre and weak support base.