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Mayawati rules out alliances with NDA, INDIA for Lok Sabha elections
BSP chief Mayawati announced in Delhi on Wednesday that her party would align neither with the ruling NDA nor the opposition INDIA.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati announced in Delhi on Wednesday that her party would align neither with the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) nor the opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA).
There has been talk of a Congress-BSP alliance, just as there has been talk that the BSP, which has an alliance with the Shiromani Akali Dal in Punjab, could join the NDA if SAD did. On Wednesday, Mayawati exhorted her cadres to be prepared to contest the forthcoming assembly polls in Congress-ruled Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, the BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh and the Bharat Rashtra Samithi-ruled Telangana. She also urged them loyalists to ensure that neither NDA nor INDIA came to power with a full majority at the Centre.
“We should ensure that none of these two alliances are able to form a “mazboot (strong)” government and when that happens, it would mean them forming a “majboor (weak)” government...”
Mayawati clarified that in states such as Punjab she was open to an alliance with regional parties provided they weren’t part of either the NDA or INDIA. SAD is not part of either grouping although it has been in talks with its former partner, the BJP about rejoining the NDA.
Mayawati also claimed that her party is working hard to dislodge the BJP.
The other parties, apart from the BSP, that were not present in Bengaluru, the venue of the 26-party opposition meet, or New Delhi, the venue of the 38- party meeting of the BJP and its allies, are Odisha’s ruling Biju Janata Dal, Karnataka’s Janata Dal (Secular), SAD, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, Yuvajana Sramika Rythu Congress Party, Indian National Lok Dal, All India Majlis-E-Ittehadul Muslimeen and All India United Democratic Front. The BSP is the first party to clear the air on the issue. The JD (S) has also been in talks with the BJP.
On Wednesday, Mayawati also targeted the Congress.
“The truth is that had the Congress, during its hey days in power both at the Centre and in most states, cared for the poor and marginalised, then Baba Saheb Ambedkar wouldn’t have quit as the law minister in their government. In fact, the formation of the BSP too wouldn’t have been required then,” Mayawati said.
She said the Congress was dreaming of returning to power by forming an alliance of “casteist, capitalist-minded” parties. She didn’t, however, specifically name the parties which she thought were casteist or whose leaders had a capitalist approach.
She also targeted the BJP, picking Congress’s “garibi hatao (abolish poverty)” slogan and the BJP’s “ ₹15 lakh in each bank account” promise as proof of the empty boast of these parties, who she said, shared similar views on Muslims and other religious minorities, Dalits and the marginalised.
“This is why the BSP has decided to remain equidistant from both the parties and their groups,” she said.
Mayawati also mentioned the violence and unrest in Manipur towards the end of her comments.
“Mayawati has taken the nonaligned line, which is interesting and makes the UP-poll scenario spicier because this decision would surely have a bearing on the outcome. Despite a string of poll reverses, she still has a loyal vote bank which will vote for her and this would mean that many votes less into either of the alliance that would have otherwise hoped them to come their way. In a close contest, such voting pattern will have its own bearing on the ultimate outcome,” said Athar Siddiqui from Centre of Objective Research and Development.
