New Delhi: In a big blow to the prospects of grand alliance, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Wednesday announced her decision to go solo in the upcoming Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls this year. However, the BSP chief maintained suspense over alliance for Lok Sabha elections, with Congress and the Mahagathbandhan floated by it in the Lok Sabha polls in 2019.
“There will be no alliance with the Congress. The BSP will fight the upcoming Assembly elections in poll-bound states Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh on its own,” Mayawati told ANI in an exclusive interview.
She blamed Congress for trying to wipe out the BSP by giving it few seats in major states where they were negotiating for the alliance. “In Rajasthan, the Congress was offering us only nine seats out of 200 assembly seats, in Madhya Pradesh 15-20 (out of 230 seats in the state), in Chhattisgarh only 5-6 seats out of 90. We have noticed that whenever we have contested an election in alliance, all our votes get transferred to Congress. The BSP loses more due to alliance as all its votes get transferred to Congress. Keeping in mind such things, we think Congress is trying to eliminate small parties like BSP in the name of wiping out BJP. BSP has the power to change the course of a river. We won’t bow down before the BJP and the Congress . We won’t go with Congress at any cost in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan,” Mayawati.
“Though the Congress is in bad shape, it still believes that it can go solo like in Gujarat. People in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are not keen to let BJP come back which is why we have tied up with the regional party in Chhattisgarh. We also did the same and tie-up with a regional party in Karnataka. Even though the BSP has always supported Congress to keep the communal forces away, but the fact is that the Congress has always back-stabbed us,” Mayawati said.
She mentioned the Taj Corridor case and alleged that the Congress had framed her in it. “Thanks to the Supreme Court I have got relief in this case,” she said. The BSP leader added that another grudge against Congress was the former BSP leader Kanshi Ram was not awarded the Bharat Ratna despite several requests.
“Rassi jal gayi par ainthan nahi gaya. Though Congress is in bad shape, it still believes it can go solo, like it did in Gujarat,” she said.
She also blamed Congress leaders like Digvijay Singh for spoiling the alliance. “While Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi want a Congress-BSP alliance in the poll-bound states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and in Lok Sabha elections, unfortunately, Congress party MP and former chief minister Digvijay Singh, who due to the fear of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), does not want an alliance between the two parties,” Mayawati said.
Attacking Digvijay Singh, Mayawati said that he due to his own “selfishness” did not let Congress to form a government in Goa despite being in majority there. “It is important to know this senior leader of Congress is an agent of the BJP,” Mayawati said. She added that Digvijay made a statement on television that BSP leader Mayawati fears CBI and the ED, which is baseless. The fact is that the Congress party, in the garb of alliance, wants to wipe out BSP. The Congress has ruled for years but like the BJP it also due to communal mindset has not done anything for the Scheduled Caste and the Backward Classes, which is why we had to create the BSP to fight for their self-respect and the dignity,” she said.
Mayawati’s announcement comes days after she announced to contest alone if BSP doesn’t get fair deal in seat sharing. “We will agree to alliance anywhere and in any election only when we get a fair share of seats, otherwise BSP will contest alone,” she had said on September 16.
On September 20, the BSP chief also announced an alliance with the Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) for the upcoming Chhattisgarh state assembly elections. JCC president Ajit Jogi has been nominated as the Chief Ministerial candidate. Out of the 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh Assembly, the BSP will contest on 35, while the JCC will contest on the remaining 55 seats, Mayawati confirmed.
[source_without_link]ANI[/source_without_link]