BSP-SP alliance giving sleepless nights to BJP: Mayawati

BSP chief Mayawati on Tuesday said that the alliance between her party and the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh for the Lok Sabha elections was giving the ruling BJP "sleepless nights".

"This year my birthday has come at a time when the Lok Sabha elections are very near. And keeping the elections in mind, my party has formed an alliance with the SP which is giving sleepless nights to the BJP and also others," she told the media as she turned 63.

On January 12, Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav announced that they will contest 38 Lok Sabha seats each in Uttar Pradesh of the total 80. The SP and BSP won't put up candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the constituencies of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

The Congress had otherwise been kept out of the alliance.

The Bahujan Samaj Party supremo also said that it was Uttar Pradesh which decides which party will form a government at the Centre. In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, the BJP won a whopping 71 seats while an ally bagged two more.

Appealing to party workers to vote for the alliance and forget past differences, Mayawati said: "To make this alliance a success, I appeal to all the workers of SP and BSP to forget the past differences and work for the victory of both parties' candidates. This would be the biggest gift on my birthday."

She also warned the party workers that the BJP was capable of spreading confusion and rumours and urged them to remain alert.

Slamming both the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, the four-time Chief Minister said the BJP had lost support of the people of the state as they did not fulfil promises made in 2014.

She said it would have been beneficial to the farmers if the Modi government had implemented the Swmainathan Commission's recommendations.

The BSP leader accused the BJP and Congress governments of corruption since independence.

"Due to the corruption, farmers, Dalits and tribals did not get opportunities to progress in life. So we had to form the BSP after getting disillusioned," she added.

At the event, Mayawati released the 14th edition of her "Blue Book", which details her struggles as the BSP leader.

She also wished Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple, an MP from Kannauj, on her birthday, which also falls on Tuesday.

--IANS

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