Mayawati votes in Lucknow, claims victory

She smiled at the polling officials as they checked her voting ID card and inked her finger.

February 19, 2017 10:19 am | Updated 02:51 pm IST - Lucknow

BSP supremo shows a victory sign after casting her vote at a polling booth in Lucknow on Sunday.

BSP supremo shows a victory sign after casting her vote at a polling booth in Lucknow on Sunday.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati here on Sunday cast her vote in the third phase of the Uttar Pradesh assembly election.

Clad in a fawn coloured salwar suit and a matching floral shawl, Ms. Mayawati at around 9 a.m. walked in the polling booth number 251 at the Mall Avenue polling station.

She smiled at the polling officials as they checked her voting ID card and inked her finger.

Later interacting with the media, the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister claimed a wave in favour of the BSP and said her party was number one in the two rounds of balloting so far.

She said the BSP would get 300 plus seats at the end of the polling.

Exuding confidence, Ms. Mayawati said she was confident of a “government on our own” as people had decided to favour her party.

“The ‘hawa-hawai’ claims of the Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance and the Bharatiya Janata Party will fall flat on their faces and we will romp home to power,” she said.

Accompanied by her confidante and party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra, she was mobbed by journalists outside the polling station to get her views on the ongoing election process.

Ms. Mayawati also pointed out the large turnout at her election rallies had made it clear that she would be voted to power this time.

Later she flashed a “V” sign and posed for pictures with her voter card.

Her party was voted out of power in 2012 and drew a blank in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections where it could not win a single seat of the 80 the BSP contested.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.