BSP announces final list of candidates; two seats in Sonbhadra undecided

BSP has given 87 tickets to Dalits, 97 to Muslims and 106 to OBCs, according to Mayawati

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday announced its final list of candidates for 101 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

With the announcement, the party has so far released the list of 401 candidates.

Candidates on the remaining two seats in Sonbhadra will be decided after a decision is made if they are general or reserved for ST, a release issued by the party said.

BSP has given 87 tickets to Dalits, 97 to Muslims and 106 to OBCs, according to BSP chief Mayawati.

Muslims constitute nearly 20 per cent of the voters in UP and had, by and large, supported the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the 2012 elections.

However, this time they are looking for clear signals from the SP, which has been mired in the factional fight between Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Over the past few days despite several rounds of negotiations, there has been no compromise between the two sides, with both claiming the party's poll symbol, the cycle.

After SP candidates hit the ground, BSP might get the first-mover advantage and benefit from the confusion in the SP camp.