In a strong attack on the Samajwadi Party and the Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati said here on Thursday that the “drama” over denial of permission for one of the two election meetings of Narendra Modi planned in Varanasi on Wednesday was the manifestation of a tacit understanding between the two parties.
Speaking to the press at her house on Thursday, Ms Mayawati indicated that officials of the district administration worked on the directions of the Samajwadi Party government as part of “a well-thought-out conspiracy” for the mutual benefit of the two parties in the last phase of the Lok Sabha election. They had given a communal and caste colour to the election, chiefly to help Mr. Modi in Varanasi and Mulayam Singh in Azamgarh, she alleged.
She said the SP had helped the BJP gain politically. “On the flip side, the SP will give an impression to Muslims of Purvanchal that only it can take on the BJP,” Ms. Mayawati said.
Ms. Mayawati said giving permission to three programmes of Mr. Modi in a single day, including the “Ganga Pujan,” would have led to confrontation. If there was a security threat to Mr. Modi, the State government had the responsibility to give protection. She dismissed the SP’s claim that the onus was on the Election Commission.
