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Won’t align with Congress in any state: Mayawati
On her alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, she said it was based on “mutual respect” and that the alliance is poised to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, the statement added.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief (BSP) Mayawati on Tuesday reiterated that her party will not ally with the Congress for the Lok Sabha elections that begin on April 11.
“It is being made clear again that the BSP will not have any electoral alliance with the Congress in any state,” Mayawati said at a meeting of party office-bearers in the city, according to a statement issued by the party.
The meeting was held to discuss the party’s strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
On her alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party, she said it was based on “mutual respect” and that the alliance is poised to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, the statement added.
On Sunday, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said that the Congress will not be joining the SP-BSP-Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) alliance.
Mayawati’s comments at the meeting came in response to a question on a possible alliance with the Congress, a BSP leader said requesting anonymity.
The BSP has decided to contest the polls in alliance with the SP in Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttarakhand. An alliance with regional parties in Haryana and Punjab is certain, Mayawati said, according to the statement.
According to the seat-sharing agreement finalised for Uttar Pradesh, the BSP will contest in 38 seats, the SP in 37 and the RLD in three seats out of total 80 in the state. The alliance has not put up candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the Gandhi family’s pocket boroughs.
Mayawati said some political parties were eager for alliance with the BSP but the party leadership decided against it so as to not dilute the party’s focus on empowering the underprivileged, the statement said.
According to the BSP leader cited in the first instance, after snapping ties with the Om Prakash Chautala-led Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana, the BSP has decided to go for an alliance with the Loktantra Suraksha Party (LSP) launched by rebel BJP leader Rajkumar Saini . Out of the 10 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the BSP is likely to contest in eight seats whereas the LSP will field candidates in two seats.
RK Gautam, a political analyst, said caste calculus will be an important factor in deciding the fate of the parties in the Lok Sabha elections. The SP-BSP-RLD alliance is working on the Dalit-Yadav-Muslim-Jat alliance, which has a sizable presence across the state, he said
The alliance with the RLD is likely to be a turning point in west UP politics, he explained. After the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots, the BJP was able to create a fissure between Jat and Muslim voters.The BJP won all 21 seats in west UP in 2014. The party also swept the state, winning 71 out of the total 80 seats.
The SP-BSP-RLD alliance is also hoping the Congress will hurt the prospects of the BJP in the electoral battle, Gautam said.
