#UP2017: Mayawati Will Prefer Opposition Benches Over Seat Of Power Shared With BJP
At a rally in Kanpur today (14 February), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati said that social media rumours suggesting an alliance between the BSP and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were false.
She said the BSP would rather sit in opposition than join hands with the BJP to form a government in the crucial poll-bound state. Any alliance with the Samajwadi Party and the Congress was also out of the question, she added.
She claimed at the rally that the BJP itself was behind the circulation of these rumours. In addition, she expressed confidence at coming out on top in the polls. The Times of India quoted her as saying,
BSP will remain number one. This is the reality. The BJP is building castles in the air and after the results are out, it will be at the bottom of the table.
These remarks by Mayawati must be seen in the context of her going all out to woo the Muslim voters in the state and also reports that the BSP has managed to get a meaningful chunk of that in the first stage of polling on 11 February. The BSP chief would want to build on that performance and, therefore, cannot afford to be seen as having any proximity with the BJP.