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Mayawati to give push to third front in other states
The BSP chief, who returned to Delhi on Tuesday evening, will meet the leaders of alliance partners in the national capital to finalise the candidates in various states, the party leader said.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, who has struck an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, has now decided to give thrust to the third front in other states, said a BSP leader who did not wish to be named.
“The bonhomie of non- BJP and non-Congress leaders (at Mayawati’s birthday celebrations) was a move to give thrust to the third front before the Lok Sabha election,” the BSP leader said.
The BSP chief, who returned to Delhi on Tuesday evening, will meet the leaders of alliance partners in the national capital to finalise the candidates in various states, the party leader said.
Mayawati will also discuss the Lok Sabha election strategy with alliance partners as well as the office bearers of the various states units in Delhi.
After a week’s stay in the national capital, she will return to Lucknow to review the party’s preparedness for the Lok Sabha election, the leader said. She will chair a meeting of party leaders, office bearers and leaders of bhai- chara committees to finalise the election strategy.
For his part, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav will meet West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee soon and he is likely to participate in a rally organised by the ruling Trinamool Congress in Kolkata, a senior Samajwadi Party leader said.
The BSP- SP alliance will also field candidates on a few seats bordering UP in Madhya Pradesh, he said.
Mayawati had made it clear in Lucknow on Tuesday that the alliance will not only spread its base in other states but also field candidates in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana, Chhattisgarh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Karnataka. The BSP has already tied up with the regional parties in a few states and it is looking for probable partners in other states.
The SP-BSP alliance is likely to the launch the election campaign with joint rallies by Mayawati and Akhilesh in the first week of February. The two leaders are likely to address two dozen rallies across the state. The office bearers of the SP- BSP district units will also organise joint public meetings across the state, the BSP leader said.
During her birthday celebrations on Tuesday, Mayawati appealed to BSP workers to forget their differences with alliance partners to ensure victory of alliance in UP as well as other states. “It will be the most precious gift on my birthday,” she had said.
Later in the day, leaders of Indian National Lok Dal (INLD), Janata Congress Chattisgarh (JCC) and JD (S) called on her at residence in Delhi while the leaders of TMC, TDP, DMK, NCP, JMM and TRS phoned her to wish her on her birthday.
