Mayawati announces to contest all elections - big and small - alone

BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday said that her party would contest all elections - big and small -alone in the future, which marks the abrupt end of nascent electoral bonhomie between her and Akhilesh Yadav led Samajwadi Party (SP).

The BSP chief has blamed the post-Lok Sabha poll "conduct" of SP and the realisation that its alliance with Akhilesh-led political outfit was not enough to defeat the BJP, for the decision to chart an independent electoral course for herself.

"It is well known the BSP had forgotten all issues and concerns it had with the SP. We sidelined our concerns about anti-Dalit and anti-BSP decisions of SP in 2012-17, the anti-reservation stance of SP and deteriorating law and situation under the SP rule just for the larger interest of the public and has respected the alliance dharma," tweeted Mayawati.

"However, the conduct of SP after the Lok Sabha elections forces BSP to think whether it is possible to defeat the BJP by joining hands with the SP. It is not possible. Hence in the interest of the party and the movement, the BSP in future would contest every big and small election on its own," said Mayawati in another tweet.

The latest development comes a day after Mayawati chaired the meeting with her party office bearers, members, legislators and parliamentarians to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming by-election to 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

About two weeks back, claiming that the SP's voters did not support the alliance in the Lok Sabha elections, Mayawati had announced that she would fight the by-polls to 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh alone. However, she had then said that this was not a "permanent break" from her alliance with the SP.

The BSP and the SP contested 38 parliamentary seats each and gave four seats to the RLD. However, the alliance could only manage to win 15 seats - 10 by BSP and five by SP, while the RLD drew a blank. BJP swept the state by bagging 62 out of 80 seats.