Assembly Elections Live Updates: Won’t let cows be slaughtered in UP, says CM Yogi; Akhilesh confident of hitting 200-mark

Home Minister Amit Shah, and BSP chief Mayawati during their campaigns in UP. (Photos: PTI)

Half-way through the Uttar Pradesh elections, the BJP and BSP seem to have reached an unusual common ground: on how well Mayawati’s party would do come March 10. First, senior BJP leader Amit Shah said in an interview to News18 that Mayawati remained “relevant” contrary to political predictions, and that the BSP would also get Muslim support apart from its core Jatav votes. On Tuesday, Mayawati thanked Shah for his “greatness” in saying the same, and said the Samajwadi Party was wrong in claiming that the Muslim vote would be cornered by it.

An analysis of the candidates fielded by the BSP, in fact, shows that the party may damage the SP on more seats than it will do the BJP.

One reason is the number of Muslim candidates fielded by the BSP in an election where the SP is hoping to pull ahead of the BJP by rallying all its Muslim and Yadav support, plus extra votes from other communities.