Spotlight on Bahujan Samaj Party

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">lucknow: as up is, in all probability, heading for another hung assembly, all eyes are now on the bsp. the question doing the round of various party offices is whether mayawati will be able to keep her flock intact in these times of "politics of poaching". in bjp, a middle-rung leader proudly told a group of journalists on tuesday that his party had planted 35 ‘legislators'' in bsp."they are sure to win. they will join bjp whenever the need arises," said the leader as he grinned from ear to ear. leaders of samajwadi party, too, had a similar claim to make. the only difference being they put the figure at 20. though it is very difficult to say with surety what cards sp and bjp have up their sleeves in this regard, political pundits agree that it would be a herculean task for mayawati to avert another split if the two parties succeed in their designs. a senior bsp leader told tnn on telephone that this time no party will be able to split the bsp. "in fact, we will form the next government," he said. politically, it is a must-win situation for the samajwadi party. for the last eight years the party is out of power. and if this time too mulayam singh yadav fails to form a government, then it could well be the beginning of its end. that is precisely what the bjp is trying to do. chief minister rajnath singh had told the tnn recently that if sp failed to form a government this time also, then all, barring five, sp mps would join the bjp. and to achieve that the bjp has limited options. one, to support the bsp and let mayawati form the government. second, to sit in the opposition and see how others form a government and third, indulge in <span style="" font-style:="" italic="">tod phod</span> (politics of poaching) and form a government. </div> </div>