By IANS,
Raipur : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which has been trying to increase its base in Chhattisgarh, has appointed a 35-year-old as its new president in a bid to project a “younger face”.
Sadanand Markande replaces Dauram Ratnakar, 52, who has been inducted into the national executive of the party and will also be coordinator for
Chhattisgarh.
“I have been state president of the party since Chhattisgarh came into existence in November 2000. I did my best to strengthen the party’s base but now Behenji (party chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati) has decided to give chance to a new leadership and a younger face as state chief,” Ratnakar, told IANS.
He said the new president would retain the old state executive and make a change only if was “very necessary”.
The change of guard in the BSP in the state comes amid the party’s dipping popularity levels and a demand from leaders that a young face be given a
chance.
In the November 2008 assembly polls, the BSP bagged just two seats out of 90 and polled 6.11 percent of the votes. Party leaders expected to perform better in at least 18 seats where Scheduled Caste voters hold the key.
In the general elections, too, the party fared dismally. It failed to win or emerge runners-up in the state’s 11 Lok Sabha seats. Scheduled Caste voters comprise 12 percent of the state’s 20.08 million population.