The former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh and the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, Mayawati, said on Monday that the BSP will not contest for district panchayat president and that her supporters should focus on the upcoming UP assembly elections due next year.
Addressing media, Mayawati alleged that the reason behind not contesting the election is horse-trading and misuse of state machinery done by the BJP-led government in Uttar Pradesh.
“We have decided not to contest Zilla panchayat elections in UP. I want to clarify if the elections would have been impartial, then we would have contested. In UP, winning the Zilla panchayat election depends on buying and selling and misuse of the government machinery. In this matter, BJP is also using the tactics Samajwadi Party used during its government. It was the reason when in 1995 we have to part ways with the Samajwadi party’s government. Now BJP doing the same leading to weakening the roots of democracy,” said the BSP Chief.
She further said that leaders and workers of the party have been instructed that instead of investing their time and energy in this Zilla panchayat election, they should invest in strengthening the organization and increasing its voter base in the state.
“The party workers and leaders are instructed to invest their time in strengthening the party in the state and doing public service so that this time the Bahujan Samaj Party is able to form the government on its own after the upcoming assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. When the BSP government is formed here, the district panchayat president will themselves join BSP as they can’t function without power,” she added.
On Sunday, Mayawati had dismissed reports that BSP had entered into a tie-up with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for Uttar Pradesh polls, and informed media that her party would contest alone in the state.
The BSP in Uttar Pradesh has been seeing defections and most of its leaders who have switched sides have gone to the Samajwadi Party. BSP had won 19 out of 403 seats in the 2017 assembly elections.
In Punjab, the party will be contesting the polls with the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a former ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
BSP to fight solo in UP, Uttarakhand polls
Mayawati had earlier denied rumours of her party forming a coalition with Asaduddin Owaisi’s All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (AIMIM) for the Uttar Pradesh elections, announcing that the BSP will run alone in the state’s forthcoming Assembly elections.
In recent months, there have been many defections from the BSP, with the majority of those who have crossed sides joining the Samajwadi Party (SP). In the 2017 assembly elections, the party got 19 out of 403 seats. The party will face up against the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD), a former partner of the Bharatiya Janata Party, in Punjab.
