Mayawati ends rumours about post-election alliance with BJP

Mayawati tried to put an end to talk of a post-election alliance with the ruling BJP on Thursday, saying her Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) was not a party's B squad and that competitors were trying to mislead her followers.

The speculation was sparked by Union Home Minister Sushma Swaraj's recent statement that Mayawati's BSP remained "relevant" in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections and would receive Dalit votes.

Mayawati responded by saying that it was because of Mr. Shah's "magnanimity" that he acknowledged it, but that the BSP would also receive votes from other communities.

At an electoral rally in Basti, Uttar Pradesh, the BSP head remarked, "Ever since the Union Home Minister gave a statement on the BSP's position among Dalits and Muslims after the polling in western UP, rival political parties and the media have started saying that it is the 'B' team of the BJP, when there is no truth in this."

She also accused the Congress, the Samajwadi Party, and the BJP of having a "casteist mindset," which she also accused the media of possessing.

Mayawati questioned why, if the BSP was the BJP's B team, the Samajwadi Party had joined with them in a previous assembly election and again in the Lok Sabha elections. She stated that the media should likewise inform the public.

She also mentioned the BJP's earlier backing for SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav's regime.

Why did the Congress once contest the assembly elections with the BSP and why did it seek support for its government at the Centre?" She called it the rivals' "disgusting politics," while targeting Congress Dalit leader said. 

The truth, according to the BSP's leader, is that the BSP is a national party, not "any party's A or B team."

Amit Shah, in a recent television appearance, stated that the BSP was still important in Uttar Pradesh.

"I believe it will get votes. I don't know how much of it will convert into seats but it will get votes," The BJP leader's comments sparked concern about the potential of a post-election agreement between the two parties.

Mayawati was sworn in as chief minister with the BJP's backing in 1995, 1997, and 2002.

Mayawati slammed the media, accusing it of deceiving the Scheduled Caste community by claiming that "your behan ji" does not visit victims of atrocities on Dalits, despite the fact that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra does.

Mayawati stated that, like Sonia Gandhi, she is the national president of a political party, not merely a state in charge, as Priyanka Gandhi is.

She claimed that, like the Congress UP in charge, her party had office bearers who hurry to aid Dalit victims. But, unlike the Congress and other parties, there is "no drama in front of the media," she noted.

She warned her supporters to be wary of the "casteist media" and political parties with " double faces."

She said it was regrettable that there were "conspiracies" in Maharashtra to sway elections under the guise of terrorism or probing agencies' operations.

The BSP chief stated that her party is contesting the elections alone and with full force in order for the BSP government's good days to return to Uttar Pradesh.

She stated that, like in the past, the BSP has distributed tickets to all groups of society (sarv samaj).

If the BSP joins the government, she says the first goal would be to create jobs, and actions will be done to alleviate poverty. Farmers will not be disappointed, she declared, and "sants" and "mahants" will be honoured.