Maya open to alliance with Cong, wants respectable share in seats

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday insisted that the party will forge an alliance with the Congress party only if they are offered a respectable number of seats. “The BSP will contest elections as a part of coalition government only if it gets a respectable number of seats,” she told reporters.

Mayawati’s reaction came amid reports that she asked the Congress party to firm up an alliance in election-bound states including Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan.

The talk of alliance has divided the Congress too. While the grand old party feels that an alliance with the BSP will help it in the assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, Congress state unit chief in Rajasthan Sachin Pilot said last month that there would be no alliance with the BSP for the state elections.

Earlier this month, Mayawati directed the party leaders not to speak about alliance till the party leadership announces pre-poll ties with any party.

On Wednesday, the Janata Dal (Secular) also said the party could not be taken for granted by the Congress for an alliance. Asked if his party would ally with the Congress in 2019 polls, Karnataka chief minister HD Kumaraswamy said, “Agenda is there (for an alliance). Let us see how the Congress is going to treat JD(S).”

The two-month-old JD(S)-Congress coalition government in Karnataka has been through some rocky times so far.

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