Mayawati won’t contest Lok Sabha elections, will campaign for Yadav family too

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday indicated to party leaders that she will not contest the Lok Sabha election but will focus on the party’s campaign across the country instead, a party leader said.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Friday indicated to party leaders that she will not contest the Lok Sabha election but will focus on the party’s campaign across the country instead, a party leader said.

Mayawati will kick off her party’s national campaign from the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar on April 2, a BSP leader said. (AFP/File Picture)

She will kick off her party’s national campaign from the Odisha capital Bhubaneswar on April 2, the party leader 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.

Mayawati will also campaign for Samajwadi Party candidates across the state, including SP patron Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is contesting from Mainpuri. She will also address rallies in Kannauj, Firozabad and Badaun from where Dimple Yadav, Akshya Yadav and Dharmendra Yadav are contesting, to give a boost to the alliance campaign.

A senior party leader said the BSP appointed Ritesh Pandey as the party in-charge of Ambedkar Nagar seat, Girish Chandra Jatava in-charge of Nagina seat and Haji Iqbal as in-charge of Bijnore seat. These three seats were earlier shortlisted for the party chief, the party leader said.