Mayawati snubs Congress, ties up with Jogi-led Janta Congress Chhattisgarh

Mayawati's decision is a jolt to the Congress, which had hoped for an alliance with the BSP at least in MP to end the 15-year rule of the BJP in the state

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Thursday announced that her party will have no alliance with the Congress for the forthcoming assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh (MP), and Chhattisgarh. She said her party will have an alliance with former chief minister (CM) Ajit Jogi-led party in Chhattisgarh. Elections to these three states, as also Mizoram and Telangana, are due in December.

Mayawati’s decision is a jolt to the Congress, which had hoped for an alliance with the BSP at least in MP to end the 15-year rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state. Recent poll surveys have predicted a close fight in both Chhattisgarh and MP, and the Congress was hoping to stitch alliances to prevent any splits in the anti-incumbency votes, as also benefit from the BSP’s support base among the Dalits in the two states.

Mayawati said in Chhattisgarh her party will have an alliance with Ajit Jogi-led Janta Congress Chhattisgarh. She said her party will contest 35 seats, and Jogi’s party the rest 55. Chhattisgarh Assembly has 90 seats. She said Jogi will be the CM if their alliance is to win. The joint press statement by Jogi and Mayawati also hinted at the possibility of the two parties expanding their alliance to accommodate other parties. Currently, the Congress and Communist Party of India are in talks with each other. In 2013, the BJP had a narrowest of wins in the state.

The BSP chief also said her party will contest all 230-seats in Madhya Pradesh, and will have no truck with the Congress in Rajasthan either. The party also released its first list of candidates for 22 seats, with its four sitting legislators being retained, in MP.

Congress sources said they were anticipating the development because of the pressure on the BSP chief and her family from investigating agencies. But not everybody was disappointed with the news since some local unit leaders of the Congress had felt the BSP's demand for 50 seats to be excessive. According to sources, the Congress had agreed to give BSP 30 seats. Congress state unit chief Kamal Nath was in talks with the BSP for an alliance in Madhya Pradesh. Some in the Congress sources were still hopeful of an alliance with the BSP in MP nearer to the elections. The Congress is also in talks with the Gondwana Ganatantra Parishad for an alliance in MP.

The BSP had an alliance with the Janata Dal (Secular) for the Karnataka Assembly polls in that state in May. It was the first instance of the BSP having an alliance with another party since 1996. The BSP is also in talks with the Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana and YSR Congress Party in Andhra Pradesh.

MP has witnessed both Dalit and upper-caste protests since April. In a tweet on Thursday, MP Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan said that there will be no misuse of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act in the state, and no arrests will be made without a preliminary enquiry.

In another development, charges under the National Security Act have been withdrawn against Bhim Army founder Chandrashekhar Azad, who was arrested in connection with the 2017 Saharanpur violence, Uttar Pradesh government told the Supreme Court. Azad was granted bail on September 14 and was in jail since June 2017 for his alleged role in the Saharanpur inter-caste clashes.