Mayawati on Thursday tried to dispel speculation regarding possible tie-ups post-poll in the powerhouse BJP and said that she was the leader of her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which was not the B team of any political party, and that rivals were trying to deceive the people who supported her.
The speculation was spurred after a recent statement by Union Home Minister Mayawati’s BSP was “relevant” for this year’s Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and could win Dalit votes.
Mayawati responded by declaring that it was because of Mr. Shah’s “magnanimity” that he had acknowledged this.
Still, she added that she believed that the BSP would also get the votes of other communities.
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“Ever since the Home Minister of India made an address regarding the BSP’s position with Dalits and Muslims following the election in the western part of UP, opposition parties, as well as the media, have been claiming that the BSP is the “B team” of the BJP. However, there is no factual basis for such claims, “the BSP chief declared at an election conference in Basti, Uttar Pradesh.
She also claimed that the Congress of the Samajwadi Party and the BJP were based on a “casteist attitude” and a charge she also made against the media.
Mayawati has asked what the reason was for why her Samajwadi Party had allied with the BSP in the previous assembly election and then during the Lok Sabha elections, even if it was the B team of the BJP.
She also suggested that the media inform people about this.
She also spoke of the BJP offering its support to SP family patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav’s administration in the past.
The Dalit leader has targeted the Congress and demanded, “Why was it that the Congress contested the assembly elections in conjunction with the BSP and also why did it need to seek support for their government in the Centre?” She accused him of “disgusting politics.”
The BSP head said that it is the reality that the BSP is a party with a national scope and is not “the one or the other team from any political party.”
In a recent interview on television, Amit Shah said that the BSP was still pertinent in UP.
“I believe that it will garner votes. I’m not sure what percentage of it could be converted into seats, but it will be a vote,” the BJP leader has said, sparking speculation on a possible post-poll agreement between both parties.
In 1995, 1997, 2002, and 1995, Mayawati was elected chief minister by the BJP.
