Mayawati releases list of 53 candidates at birthday event, shares her wishlist

UP elections: BSP chief Mayawati launched a sharp attack at the Samajwadi Party which inducted BJP defectors on Friday, saying the SP was not a well-wisher of Dalit, backward and Muslim community.

LUCKNOW: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati released the first list of the 53 party candidates for the first phase February 10 assembly elections to be held on 58 assembly constituencies in western Uttar Pradesh in a programme organized in the BSP state unit office to celebrate her 66th birthday on Saturday.

BSP chief Mayawati asked party leaders and workers to ensure the victory of party candidates in the UP elections 2022, and ensure the BSP comes to power as her birthday gift. (HT Photo/Deepak Gupta)

Addressing a press conference, the BSP chief called upon party leaders and workers to give her a birthday gift with making BSP government in the coming assembly election and ensure the victory of party candidates in the election.

Hitting out at the Samajwadi Party and BJP defectors who joined the SP on Friday, Mayawati said the Samajwadi Party (SP) is not a well-wisher of the Dalit, backward and Muslim community. Rather under the SP government, only the Yadav community was promoted and enjoyed access to resources. Under the BSP government, she said, members of all community got share in the power, government schemes and resources.

Mayawati called upon her party workers to celebrate her birthday at home in view of the implementation of the model code of conduct (MCC) after the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the schedule for assembly elections in five states, including Uttar Pradesh, on January 8 and surge in the Covid-19 cases across the state.

The BSP will celebrate her birthday as “Jankalyankari Diwas” (public welfare day). Party workers have been directed to assist the poor people and family members of the Covid pandemic victims.

The BSP chief released the 17th edition of her book “A Travelogue of My Struggle Ridden Life and BSP Movement” at the party’s state unit office on the occasion. “The travelogue will generate self-respect among the party supporters and guide them to take the movement launched by the BSP forward,” she said.