Mayawati Blames Cong, BJP, Media, Muslims For BSP Debacle In UP

Lucknow, Mar 7: An unrelenting BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday lashed out at the Congress, BJP, Muslims and even the media for being instrumental behind her party's poll debacle in Uttar Pradesh. 

Accusing Congress and BJP of raising the minority sub-quota issue mid-way during the UP polls for their political gains, Mayawati today said this helped in large-scale transfer of Muslim votes to Samajwadi Party.

Talking to reporters soon after submitting her resignation to UP Governor B L Joshi, Mayawati said 70 per cent of the Muslim votes had gone to the SP due to the minority reservation issue.

“You all know that Congress raised the issue of reservation for backward Muslims for their political gains soon after the Vidhan Sabha elections were declared and this was opposed strongly to by the BJP,” Mayawati said. 

She alleged that the BJP also tried to attract the upper castes and the OBCs towards them for electoral benefits. 

“Due to this, there was a fear in the Muslim community that the BJP may come to power. Finding the Congress weak and thinking that the OBCs and upper castes would vote for the BJP, Muslims voted not for the Congress but the SP,” Mayawati claimed.

She said there were apprehensions in the minds of Muslims that the upper castes and OBCs would not vote for the BSP and, hence, they voted for the SP.

Except the Dalits, the Hindu votes-particularly those of upper castes-got divided among many parties and the SP gained from this, she said.

“70 per cent of the Muslim votes were transferred to the SP,” Mayawati said.

Mayawati claimed that the Dalit votes did not get divided and remained with the BSP.

“All across the state, the Dalits have voted for the BSP.  This is the reason the BSP is number 2. Otherwise, it would have been left far behind.... My position would have been like that of Lalu (Prasad) in Bihar,” she said. 

The out-going chief minister alleged that the new SP government will put her welfare programmes in cold storage and take the state backwards by many years.

 “Very soon the people of the state will get fed up with the functioning of the SP government and remember the good governance during the BSP rule,” she said. 

Enumerating the various welfare schemes of her government, she alleged that the Centre's attitude towards the state during her rule was negative.

Mayawati indicated that she would work towards reviving her party in the coming days.

“Our party will revive its cadre and work on taking the state out of the Hindu-Muslim mindset,” she said, adding that the BSP would also woo other communities into the party-fold. 

The BSP chief also hit out at the media for keeping the minority sub-quote issue alive by highlighting the issue repeatedly during the polls.

Mayawati rejected suggestions that corruption charges could have been the reason for the poll debacle of her party in the assembly elections.

To a question on whether corruption charges against her government, including the NRHM scam, were responsible for her party's defeat, she said she did not think so.

The BSP chief said that she has confidence that people would remember the good governance of her party and would return it in the next elections with full majority.

She maintained that her government had worked hard to put the state on track for all sections of the society. To a question on her party's stand in Uttarakhand, she said she has yet to think on it.

BSP has won three seats this time and is being wooed by the Congress and the BJP to help them form the government in the hill state.

On who should be the CM—Mulayam Singh Yadav or his son Akhilesh Yadav, she shot back, “Ask that family.” The BSP chief rejected a suggestion that dissent in the party could have harmed her, saying that there are differences in any organsaition but at election time all worked unitedly and with complete dedication.

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