BSP to fight solo in UP, Uttarakhand: Mayawati
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday said the party will fight state assembly elections alone in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. Mayawati's statement came against reports of AIMIM and BSP fighting the assembly elections together in Uttar Pradesh. Taking to Twitter, the BSP chief today said, "This news is being broadcast in a media news channel since yesterday that the AIMIM and BSP will fight the upcoming assembly elections in UP together. This news is completely false, misleading and baseless. There is not even an iota of truth in this and the BSP vehemently denies it."
"In this regard, it is again clarified that except Punjab, the BSP will not contest the UP and Uttarakhand state polls early next year in alliance with any party; meaning it will go it alone," Mayawati added.
The BSP chief further said her party has only announced a political tie up with Shiromani Akali Dal for the Punjab polls, also to be held next year.
The two parties have also finalised the seat-sharing agreement in the 117-member assembly - with SAD contesting on 97 seats and the BSP on 20.
The BSP and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) have allied to contest the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections. The BSP, which stormed to power in 2007 by winning 206 seats, was left with just 80 seats in 2012.
In 2014, Mayawati's party did not win a single Lok Sabha seat, and in the 2017 Uttar Assembly elections, it bagged only 19 seats.
With BSP's support base dwindling over the years, the BJP and the Samajwadi Party have been trying to woo the Dalit voters ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections in 2022.
In April, Akhilesh Yadav announced that Samajwadi Party (SP) will constitute a Baba Saheb Vahini named after Dalit icon Dr BR Ambedkar.
The Baba Saheb Vahini aims to bring Dalits into the Samajwadi fold and assure them protection against social exploitation.
The BJP has now announced that it will build a memorial in the name of Ambedkar.
The SP and BSP were allies in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
However, immediately after the Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati snapped ties with the party announcing that her party would never ally with SP again.
