Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati said here on Wednesday that she would not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election as a “sacrifice” for the larger goal of uprooting the “arrogant, despotic, communal and casteist” BJP government.
Addressing a press conference, she said if she were in the fray the BSP workers would lose their focus.
She claimed that if she were in the fray, the campaign in other constituencies would be affected as her supporters would flock to ensure her victory.
Taking to media in Lucknow, Ms. Mayawati said, "Therefore, more important than me winning is to win each and every seat in the state, which will provide force to our party's mission of social justice and economic liberation."
The former UP Chief Minister said the decision was taken in the interest of the nation and the people, and keeping in mind the long-term goals of the BSP movement run on the ideals of B.R Ambedkar and Kanshiram.
Her announcement came as a disappointment to BSP cadre and her supporters who had hoped that with her contesting, the party's campaign would get galvanized unlike in 2014 when the BSP paid the costs of not having a clear goal.
Ms. Mayawati, a former MP and MLA as well, said she expected her party cadre to honour the "farsightedness and sacrifice" made by "apni behenji."
Perhaps, recognizing the disappointment among her supporters, she later tweeted appealing them to not get disheartened.
"When I became UP CM [for the] first time in 1995 I was not member of either UP Assembly or Council. Similarly [there] is [a] provision at the Centre where a person have to be a LS/RS member within 6 months of holding office of minister/PM," she tweeted.
Ms. Mayawati also hinted to her supporters that she could get elected to Parliament post the elections and claimed that she could contest from any seat she liked after getting it vacated.
"It is certain that I would only have to go there to file the nomination, and the responsibility of the victory will be carried out by the people," she said.
There are also speculations on her ally Akhilesh Yadav, SP president, looking to contest the polls from Azamgarh. His wife Dimple Yadav will contest again from Kannauj while his father SP founder Mulayam Singh will fight from his traditional seat Mainpuri.
Azamgarh has a strong population of Muslims, Jatavs and Yadavs.
