Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Sunday reiterated the party’s stand of maintaining a ‘complete distance’ from both the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) and the Opposition’s Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) for the upcoming parliamentary polls. The party moved forward on its own strength, she said.
“Ms. Mayawati held a meeting of U.P. and Uttarakhand state units discussing the strategy for the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. She once again reiterated that the BSP, while maintaining complete distance from the ruling NDA and the opposition INDIA bloc, will work towards strengthening itself and move forward like earlier years,” the BSP’s statement said.
‘Fake news’
The former four-time U.P. CM dismissed “fake news” about the party, hinting at the buzz in political circles about the Congress reaching out to the BSP for an alliance. “She urged party members to be alert to fake news, and said that anti-BSP elements are still engaged in propaganda and political conspiracy. Hence, precaution has to be taken at every level, so that our election preparedness is not affected,” the statement said.
Though people are still facing issues such as inflation, extreme poverty, unemployment, decrease in income, law and order, and poor health and educational facilities, it is unclear if these problems will become serious election issues, Ms. Mayawati said. “This is because when it comes to issues of public interest and public welfare, the attitude of the Congress and the BJP is almost the same, and it is anti-people,” she added, criticising the BJP’s “new election strategy”.
The BSP president also warned of continuous efforts to make the provision of reservation for the Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) ineffective.
