“BSP-SP alliance is strong enough to defeat BJP. Congress is absolutely free to contest Lok Sabha election on all 80 seats independently in UP.”
A day after Congress opted to leave seven of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh vacant for the upcoming Lok Sabha election, Mayawati on Monday asked the party not to give a false impression.
Underlining that the BSP-SP alliance is capable of bringing down BJP, Mayawati said that Congress need not leave any UP seat vacant. “Congress party is absolutely free to contest Lok Sabha election on all 80 seats independently in UP,” she said. “Congress must not give the wrong impression by leaving seven seats vacant in UP for SP, BSP and RLD. Our alliance formed here is strong enough to defeat BJP.”
On Sunday, Congress had announced that it is leaving seven seats vacant for the BSP-SP combine. Congress state president Raj Babbar had made the announcement and the seats included Mainpuri, Kannauj, Firozabad and other seats that the chiefs of BSP, SP and RLD may choose to contest in.
Mayawati, however, chose to ignore the ‘charity’ and said that she is confident of a strong showing anyway. This comes after the BSP chief had previously snubbed the possibility of an alliance with Congress in UP or any other state. Although being wooed by Congress stalwarts, Mayawati – in October of last year – had slammed several top Congress leaders. “I feel that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi’s intentions for Congress-BSP alliance are honest. However, some Congress leaders are sabotaging this. Congress leaders like Digvijaya Singh do not wish for a Congress-BSP alliance. They are afraid of agencies like ED, CBI,” she had said.
Maywati would eventually join hands with nemesis Akhilesh Yadav and has a 50:50 seat-sharing arrangement for the upcoming election.
