Mayawati on post-poll tie-ups: Congress, BJP are 'Saapnaath-Naagnath'

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Friday ruled out the possibility of tying up with the BJP or the Congress to form the government in Chhattisgarh, asserting that her alliance with Ajit Jogi's party would get an absolute majority.

"When our alliance is fully confident of getting an absolute majority (in the 90-member House), where does the question of a post-poll tie-up with the BJP or the Congress arise?" the Dalit leader said when asked about which way her party would go in such a scenario.

"This is a mischievous question. The question does not arise. The second phase of the polling is yet to take place," the BSP supremo told a news channel.

Dismissing the suggestion as hypothetical, Mayawati said the alliance -- with Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) -- would prefer to sit in the Opposition if it could not form the government on its own. "At present, the question of extending or taking support from any party does not arise," she told NDTV.

Describing the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress as "saap nath" and "naag nath" (snakes), the 62-year-old leader said there was no question of having any truck with either of the two. "The BJP and the Congress are anti-poor, anti-farmer, anti-Dalit, anti-downtrodden, and anti-weaker sections."

To a question as to why her party could not forge an alliance with the Congress, Mayawati said she had already spoken in detail about it in the past.

In a snub to the Congress, the BSP had announced its decision to contest the state election in alliance with the JCC, declaring Jogi as the chief ministerial face of the coalition.

The JCC is contesting 55 seats, while the BSP is in the fray in the rest. In the outgoing House, the BSP has only one seat.

While 18 assembly constituencies in the state went to polls in the first phase on Monday, voting will take place in the remaining 72 seats next Tuesday.

The results will be on December 11.