Maya’s volte-face: 'Would retire than have an alliance with BJP'

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati did a U turn on a possible alliance with BJP when she said she would “rather retire from politics” than enter into an alliance with the party.

A couple of days back Mayawati vowed to defeat candidates of the Samajwadi Party (SP) even if that meant voting for the BJP.

In a twitter post, she explained the reason why the BSP took such a strong stand against the SP.

29-10-2020-BSP PRESS NOTE-MS MAYAWATI JI PC pic.twitter.com/BxEiyQu0Bg

— Mayawati (@Mayawati) October 29, 2020

“The alliance of the BJP with the BSP is not possible in any polls in future. The BSP cannot contest with a communal party,” she said on Monday (November 2) in a media briefing. “Our ideology is of ‘sarvajan sarva dharma hitay’ (benefit of everyone and all religions) and is opposite to the BJP’s ideology… The BSP cannot enter into an alliance with those having a communal, casteist, and capitalist ideology.”

The BSP supremo had said last week that her party would consider voting for the BJP or any other party’s candidate to ensure the defeat of Samajwadi candidates in all future elections.

Mayawati said she stands by her commitment to ensure the defeat of SP’s second candidate in future legislative council polls. “Our party will support the candidate of any party, including the BJP, which is strong, to defeat the second candidate of the SP,” she said. “I stand by my earlier statement, which has been twisted by the SP and the Congress for political gains so that the Muslim community distances itself from the party.”

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Immediately after this statement, the SP had accused Mayawati of siding with the BJP and fielding a candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls without seeking support from opposition parties in the state. Following this, Mayawati had suspended seven of her MLAs for anti-party activities after they opposed the nomination of a party candidate for the Rajya Sabha polls. Mayawati felt these suspended MLAs may jump to the SP and, therefore, she made the statement about “her party voting for the BJP or any other party’s nominee”.

Mayawati may have tried to give an impression that she will not join hands with the BJP, but the ground realities tell a different tale. Media reports have often suggested the BSP’s softening of stance towards the BJP. Mayawati’s rivals say she is only attempting to split the anti-BJP votes not only in Uttar Pradesh but also in Madhya Pradesh and Bihar.

The BSP had briefly tied up with its long-standing rival SP for the 2019 national elections, but the pact broke up within weeks of the BJP winning the elections with a clear majority.