BSP only party that can stop BJP in UP: Maya

CLAIMING THAT hers is the only party capable of stopping BJP from coming to power in the state, BSP president Mayawati on Sunday said that a “defeat” in the upcoming Assembly elections will be a “strong setback” for the saffron party, after which it will not be able to “gather courage” to take any decision like demonetisation over the remainder of its tenure at the Centre.

Addressing a news conference here on the occasion of her 61st birthday, Mayawati said a “loss” in UP will make the BJP incapable of easily returning to power at the Centre again. She added that the Congress and SP were in “pitiable” condition and will not be able to stop BJP from coming to power even if they forge an alliance.

“The traditional votes of the SP have been split in two factions led by Akhilesh and Shivpal. Whether these factions fight elections separately, or together or in alliance with Congress, Lok Dal and others, these two groups will not contest to win but only to defeat the other group. In these circumstances, BSP is the only party whose base vote is not split in two and is capable of defeating the BJP,” she said.

“The SP and its alliance partner Congress are seeking votes from the people on the current SP government’s tainted face, Akhilesh. Now people have to choose if they again want to make such a tainted person their chief minister, whose tenure saw incidents like Muzaffarnagar, Dadri, Bulandshahr and Mathura happen in the state,” Mayawati said. She was referring to communal riots in Muzzafarnagar, the lynching of a Muslim man in Dadri, gangrapes of a mother and daughter in Bulandshahr and the clash between illegal occupants of a park and the police personnel in Mathura.

PTI Mayawati releases a book, in Lucknow on Sunday.