Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday clarified that her support to the Congress in the Uttarakhand Assembly floor test should not be construed as her openness to an alliance with the party in the coming Assembly elections in three States.
Ms. Mayawati stressed that her party would fight it alone and “not enter into any understanding” with other parties in Uttarakhand, Punjab or U.P.
The BSP’s two MLAs in Uttarakhand, Haridas and Sarwat Karim Ansari supported the Congress in the recent floor test in the State, helping the party prove its strength in the House.
Ms. Mayawati said her prime objective in lending support to the Congress was to “weaken communal forces” and termed “incorrect and baseless” speculations that the support to the Congress meant the BSP was open to an alliance or understanding with the Congress in the coming polls. “Fighting elections and supporting non-communal parties to form a government are two separate issues,” she said.
The BSP’s support to the Congress, and primarily its opposition to the BJP in Uttarakhand, is understood as part of its strategy to placate the doubts of Muslim voters in U.P., which goes to the polls early 2017. Muslims in the State, who look disenchanted with the ruling Samajwadi Party, are also cast with apprehensions that the BSP could align with the BJP post-poll, as it has done thrice in the past.
Ms. Mayawati reiterated that even in States, where her party had little support it fought on its own strength. So in U.P., Uttarakhand and Punjab, where the party enjoys strong support, the question of an alliance did not arise.
