Mayawati welcomes Ayodhya event, says BSP will go it alone in Lok Sabha polls

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Monday welcomed the Pran Pratishtha (consecration ceremony) of Ram Lalla to be organised in Ayodhya on January 22 but said she is yet to take a decision on attending it despite receiving an invitation as she is busy due to party work.

Reiterating her stand on her 68th birthday, she also said her party will go solo in the Lok Sabha elections,asserting that the party’s experiences with alliances have never been beneficial but she did not rule out a post-poll tie-up.

“I have received the invitation for the Ram temple inauguration. I am yet to take a decision on attending the ceremony as I am busy with party work. The BSP welcomes the programme that will be organised in Ayodhya on January 22. The BSP will also welcome the construction of a mosque at Ayodhya. The BSP is a secular party. It has respect for all religions and communities,” she said at a press conference at the party’s state unit office.

She refuted speculation about her retirement from politics after she named her nephew Akash Anand as her successor last month.

“I declared Akash Anand as my political successor following which it was being speculated in the media that I may soon retire from politics. However, I want to clarify that it is not the case, and I will continue to work towards strengthening the party,” she said.

Putting to rest specualtion over the BSP joining the INDIA bloc, Mayawati said if the upcoming Lok Sabha election is free and fair, her party will get good results.

“The BSP contests elections on its own strength because the reins of the party are in the hands of a Dalit leader. The casteist mindset of the other parties has not changed toward the BSP,” she said.

Explaining her party’s decision to go it alone, she said, “In elections, the BSP vote is transferred to the alliance partner but in return the BSP does not get the base vote or the upper caste vote of the ally.”

Referring to her party’s history of alliances, she said the BSP contested the 1993 assembly election in alliance with the Samajwadi Party, but bagged 67 seats, while the SP benefitted.

“The BSP contested the 1996 assembly elections in alliance with the Congress, but again won 67 seats while the Congress got benefit of the alliance. The BSP contested 2002 assembly elections solo and bagged more than 100 seats. In the 2007 assembly election, the BSP again went solo and this time formed a majority government. The vote percentage of the BSP increased in successive elections whenever it contested polls on its own,” she said.

“Rival parties want to ally with the BSP as they gain electorally. The BSP has to see its benefit before joining an alliance. To continue the movement and missionary zeal, contesting the Lok Sabha election solo will benefit the BSP,” she said.

“With the backing of people from backward communities, Dalits, tribals, and Muslims, we had formed a full majority government in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, and that’s why we have decided to contest the Lok Sabha polls alone. We will maintain a distance from those who are casteist and believe in communalism…We will work with full strength to help the BSP get a favourable verdict,” the BSP chief added.

The BSP was a major political force in Uttar Pradesh from 1990-2012. However, it gradually saw a decline over the past few years. In the 2022 assembly election, the party bagged one seat polling 12.8% votes.

Mayawati blamed the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) for complaints of irregularities. “The BSP has suffered since the use of the EVMs began. Yet the BSP continues to contest with strength hoping that the system of those indulging in irregularities in polling will fail.”

The BSP is organising cadre camps for the Lok Sabha election and supporters are being informed about the policies and ideology of the party, she said.

Hitting out at the BJP government at Centre, Mayawati said, rather than working to provide relief to people from poverty, unemployment and inflation, the central government is distributing ration to make them their slaves and helpless. “Whereas the BSP in its four terms in Uttar Pradesh under her leadership launched welfare schemes for empowerment of the poor to make them self-reliant and ensure that they live with dignity,” she said.

“To hide its failures, the BJP government is indulging in politics of religion, it will not strengthen our Constitution or democracy but weaken it,” she said.

The BSP is celebrating Mayawati’s birthday as People’s Welfare Day. She released the 19th edition of her work: ‘A Travelogue of My Struggle Ridden Life and BSP Movement’ in the party’s state unit office.

Bahujan Samaj Party leaders and office bearers organised programmes in all the 75 districts to celebrate the party chief’s birthday. The BSP leaders and workers visited Dalit hamlets, hospitals and distributed fruits and blankets among the poor.