Even as Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati reiterated on Saturday that she would neither give nor take the support of the BJP and the NDA if her party emerges as the “balance of power” at the Centre, she appeared soft on the Congress-led UPA.
Stating that the BJP’s attack on the UPA Government in the context of corruption and lack of development was part of an “election strategy”, Ms. Mayawati said the biggest danger to the country’s security emerged when the NDA Government was at the Centre.
“The terror attack on Parliament, Kargil war and plane hijack drama which took place when the NDA was in power is not hidden from any one”, she said.
Claiming that the performance of the BSP in the first five phases of Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh --- the sixth and last phase is due on Monday--- was “very good”, Ms. Mayawati said she was hopeful that the party would emerge as the balance of power at the Centre. She said neither the BJP-led NDA, nor the Congress-led UPA would be able to form the Government on their own.
She said if the BSP is able to form the Government, it would function in a manner in which the “sarv samaj” and secular forces are strengthened.
Rejecting the possibility of forming a “front”, Ms. Mayawati said if the BSP emerged as the balance of power, the secular forces would support it. She refuted reports claiming that the party’s core support base of the Dalits had shifted from the BSP and said that it was a propaganda of the Congress, Samajwadi Party and BJP.
“There is no truth, the reports are hundred and one per cent baseless”, she told reporters at her residence on Saturday.
Demanding maximum deployment of Central Para Military Forces (CPMF) in the last phase of Lok Sabha elections, especially in Varanasi and Azamgarh, she urged the Election Commission to take strict steps against outsiders present in Varanasi. She said the crowd in BJP’s Prime Ministerial candidate Narendra Modi’s road show in Varanasi on May 8 was made up of outsiders.
She said outsiders were also present in the Aam Aadmi party, the Congress and Samajwadi Party’s road shows. Stating that the people faced several problems during road shows, Ms. Mayawati said a serious thought should be given by the Election Commission on placing curbs on road shows.
