Mayawati says she won’t contest Lok Sabha elections

Mayawati said it was better for the party, people and the country that she does not contest the Lok Sabha elections at this stage.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday ruled herself out of the 2019 Lok Sabha race to allow her to focus on getting the largest share of seats for her alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and beyond.

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati at the party office in Lucknow. (ANI)

Mayawati said it was better for the party, people and the country that she does not contest the Lok Sabha general elections at this stage. “I am confident and sure that my party workers will accept this decision,” she told news agency ANI.

The BSP chief said that she would, if required, contest the Lok Sabha election at a later stage.

Last week, Mayawati had indicated to party leaders that she will not contest the Lok Sabha polls and will instead focus on the BSP’s campaign. She will start the BSP’s national campaign from the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar on April 2, a party leader had said.

In 2014, the BSP had contested 503 Lok Sabha seats but won none with a countrywide vote share of 5%. In Uttar Pradesh, she will hold the first joint rally with her alliance partners, the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal, in Deoband on April 7.

The BSP is contesting the Lok Sabha election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party. BSP chief Mayawati and SP president Akhilesh Yadav announced their electoral arrangement in January for 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

The BSP is the senior partner in the alliance contesting 38 Lok Sabha seats. The SP is contesting 37 seats, according to the seat sharing arrangement. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is the third constituent of the grand-alliance. The RLD has got three Lok Sabha seats.

Mayawati and Yadav had announced that they would not field candidates from Amethi and Rae Bareli, the constituencies represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi respectively.