Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday quashed reports of her party's possible alliance with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh for 2019 Lok Sabha elections. She further termed the reports "baseless."
"I want to clarify that BSP has not allied with any political party. All rumors about BSP & SP alliance in UP for 2019 Lok Sabha elctions are false and baseless," she said.
Informing that the BSP has not floated any candidate for the two by-polls, Mayawati said that her party members will vote against the BJP contendor.
"We have not floated any candidate for Lok Sabha Phulpur & Gorakhpur by-polls. Our party members will vote for any candidate who has the capability to defeat the BJP contender," she said.
Meanwhile, Mayawati said that if SP and BSP legislators transfer their votes to defeat the BJP in the Rajya Sabha and UP Legislative Council polls, then it should not be perceived as an electoral alliance.
"The BSP on its own cannot send anyone to the Rajya Sabha. The SP too does not have the adequate number of MLAs that it can send two of its MPs to the Rajya Sabha. To ensure the victory of its second candidate, it will need additional votes.
"Our party after holding deliberations with the SP has decided that our party worker will go to the Rajya Sabha. In return, we will help them in the Legislative Council elections," she said.
Mayawati said that if the BSP votes for the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, "then the Congress can send one (of its party worker as) Rajya Sabha MP (from Madhya Pradesh).
"If the Congress wants to ensure an easy win for its candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, then the seven Congress MLAs (in UP) should cast their votes (in favour of the BSP during Rajya Sabha elections) after showing them to the BSP agent."
Mayawati said the Lok Sabha elections had not been announced yet, and the party would take the final decision at an appropriate time.
She added that while forging an alliance, she would see whether her party got a respectable number of seats.
Mayawati also made it clear that the BSP's decision to enter into an alliance will be done publicly, and not behind closed doors.
Earlier, reports emerged of BSP extending support to the SP for the upcoming by-polls in Phulpur and Gorakhpur constituencies, after BSP in-charge Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar declared support to Gorakhpur SP candidate Praveen Kumar Nishad and Phulpur SP candidate Nagendra Singh Patel.
A traditional BJP bastion, Gorakhpur Lok Sabha constituency is facing bye-elections after Yogi Adityanath resigned to take on the duty as the chief minister of the state.
Similarly, Phulpur Lok Sabha constituency is also going witness bypolls as Kehsav Prasad Maurya resigned to become deputy CM of the state.
The voting to the Lok Sabha bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur will be held on March 11 and the results will be declared on March 14.
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(With PTI inputs)
