No alliance with Congress in any state: Mayawati

New Delhi: Landing a blow to the prospect of establishing a grand alliance or “mahagathbandhan” by the Opposition parties against the BJP, Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati categorically said the BSP will not have any electoral tieup with the Congress in any state for the Lok Sabha polls, starting from April 11.

In a statement, Ms Mayawati said: “It is being made clear again that the Bahujan Samaj Party will not have any electoral alliance with the Congress in any state.”

Her remarks came on a day the Congress’ top policy-making body, the Congress Working Committee, met in Ahmedabad under the leadership of party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Referring to her party’s pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, Ms Mayawati said it was based on “mutual respect” and “honest intentions”, adding that “the SP-BSP alliance is perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh”.

The SP and BSP stitched together an alliance in Uttar Pradesh recently, keeping the Congress out, though the two parties decided not to field any candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the traditional strongholds of the Gandhi family. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest 37 and the BSP 38, leaving three seats for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and two for Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).

The BSP will put up its candidates mostly in western Uttar Pradesh, including Saharanpur, Bijnor, Nagina, Amroha, Meerut, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Aligarh, Agra, Fatehpur Sikri and Bulandshahr. Besides, the party will contest Aonla, Shahjahanpur, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Misrikh, Mohanlalganj, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Farrukhabad, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Ambedkarnagar, Kaiserganj, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Lalganj, Ghosi, Salempur, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Ghazipur and Bhadohi.

Addressing party leaders from different states, other than Uttar Pradesh, in New Delhi, Ms Mayawati said while several parties were “eager” for an alliance with the BSP, her party would not do anything for mere electoral gains as it could “harm the BSP movement”.

This election will pit the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance against a combination of Opposition parties, including the Congress, the Left and many regional parties, with the latter still trying to stitch up a grand alliance to minimise the division of votes against the ruling combine.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Kashmir Monitor staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)