BJP would have lost had Mayawati agreed to join hands with INDIA bloc: Rahul Gandhi

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi is on a two-day visit to Rae Bareli, his Lok Sabha constituency. (Image: X/@INCIndia)

Congress MP and Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that Bahujan Samaj Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati refused to align with the INDIA bloc of Opposition parties ahead of the Lok Sabha elections. Rahul said that BJP would have failed to win the election had Mayawai accepted the Congress' offer.

Rahul's remarks came during his visit to his Lok Sabha constituency Rae Bareli, his fourth visit since the Lk Sabha elections. As part of the visit, Rahul also interacted with Dalit students at the Mul Bharti hostel.

"In the country, laws are being broken every day, which is why I have come to listen and understand your concerns," Rahul said during his conversation with the students. During the conversation, a young student praised the Bahujan Samaj Party and Mayawati.

The student said that Kanshi Ram worked for the Dalits and Mayawati carried forward his work, for the Dalits.

In response, Rahul Gandhi said, "I also acknowledge that Kanshi Ram laid the foundation, and Behenji (Mayawati) carried forward the work. I agree with that. But why is Behenji not contesting elections effectively these days?"

"We (Congress) wanted Behenji to join us in fighting the Lok Sabha elections against the BJP. However, for some reason, she did not join us. If the three parties (SP, BSP, and Congress) had come together, the BJP could never have won. Why didn’t Mayawati join us? If she had, we would have won," Rahul further said.

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Congress (@INCIndia) February 20, 2025

The SP and Congress fought the 2024 Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh under the banner of the INDIA bloc. On the other hand, the BJP, Apna Dal, RLD, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), and Nishad Party contested the elections as part of the NDA alliance. Mayawati's BSP fought the elections alone.

In Uttar Pradesh, the INDIA bloc won 43 seats, with the SP securing 37 and the Congress winning 6 seats. On the other hand, the NDA won 36 seats, with the BJP securing 33, RLD winning 2, and Apna Dal winning 1 seat. The BSP failed to open its account.

However, in terms of vote share, the BJP received 41.37 percent of the votes, the SP got 33.59 percent, the Congress secured 9.46 percent, and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) received 9.39 percent.

So, while the BSP failed to make an impact in terms of winning any seats, the impact could have been much more if one factors in the Lok Sabha election vote percentages. This would have led to a large-scale consolidation of the Dalit vote bank in favor of the INDIA bloc and possibly made making things much tougher for the BJP.