RS polls won''t affect BSP-SP alliance, says Mayawati

Shahira Naim
Tribune News Service
Lucknow, March 24

BSP national president Mayawati made it clear that the SP-BSP alliance will continue in the future to challenge the BJP in 2019, belying the saffron party’s expectations of the alliance falling apart after the defeat of the BSP Rajya Sabha candidate in Thursday’s elections.

Addressing the press, an unusually cheerful Mayawati said that the BJP winning the 9th seat through misuse of government machinery and money power will not impact the alliance “til bhar” (the size of a sesame seed).
 “BJP-RSS and company were having laddos since last night thinking that now it would be balley balley as the short-tempered Mayawati will break the alliance. But their conspiracy has failed the alliance will become stronger as the SP and BSP workers will now put in all their energies to defeat such nefarious forces,” said Mayawati.

In a 45-minute address she said that the BJP managing the victory of its 9th candidate by the misuse of official machinery, money power and terrorizing MLAs into cross voting was not a patch on the BSP supported SP victory in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats last week where the people’s direct verdict went against them.

The manner in which the BJP went out of its way to support a moneyed 9th candidate against a Dalit reflects their pro-capitalist and anti-Dalit mindset as well, she pointed out.
Charging the BJP of double standards she said that while their imprisoned MLAs were allowed to vote in other states one BSP and one SP MLA was prevented from doing so.

“Similarly, when the BSP formed governments in UP with the BJP support in 1995 and 2003 it was good. But when the SP and BSP have come together it is termed as an unholy alliance”. 

“I hear these days the BJP using all sorts of un-parliamentary adjectives to describe the alliance. It only reflects their fear, feudal, and anti-OBC and Dalit mindset,” she said.

Speaking candidly about the notorious June 2, 1995, Guest House incident in which some SP workers had attacked her, she said that the ever since the SP and BJP have come close the BJP is trying to drive a wedge between us by repeatedly reminding us of that incident.

“I want to settle this once for all. SP president Akhilesh Yadav was then not in politics hence holding him responsible is unfair.  I want to tell the Yogi government that the police officer who stood and personally supervised the incident has been made the state DGP by him. This has worked like salt on old wounds and my people will reply at the right time”.

She accused the BJP of making plans to have her killed. The BSP leader said she had information that the state government had plans to have her murdered during her Shabbirpur visit in Saharanpur last year after anti-Dalit violence there.

She also suspended BSP member of legislative assembly Anil Singh for cross voting for the BJP to "serve his business interests".

The SP cancelled its victory celebrations for one seat that its nominee—veteran actress Jaya Bachchan—won on Saturday in solidarity with the BSP.  With PTI