The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)on Thursday announced candidates for six out of seven Lok Sabha seats of Delhi. The party has given ticket to Abul Kalam Azad from Chandni Chowk, Ashok Kumar from North East Delhi, Rajendra Kumar Pal from East Delhi, Satyaprakash Gautam from New Delhi, Vijay Baudh from North West Delhi and Vishakha Anand from West Delhi Lok Sabha constituency. The party has not announced its candidate from South Delhi seat.
In the last Lok Sabha election held in 2019, these smaller parties along with independents managed to secure only 2.3% of the vote share. The largest of these, the BSP got just 1.1% of the vote, a major decline from the 5.34% the party had received in 2009 and the 14.05% they had received in the 2008 Delhi assembly elections.
In recent years, the Lok Sabha elections in Delhi have become a triangular contest between the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), Congress and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). As a result of this, smaller parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Janata Dal (United) and the Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) have been pushed to the fringes of politics.
