Mayawati as BSP wins 1 seat in UP: 'Result a lesson, party not BJP's team B'
UP election results: The former chief minister also stressed that her party is not the BJP's “team B” and “only the BSP can stop the BJP".
Mayawati, whose BSP won just one seat in Uttar Pradesh, on Friday admitted the state election result was a “lessson”. The former chief minister also stressed that her party is not the BJP's “team B” and “only the BSP can stop the BJP". “...Before 2017, the BJP did not have a good stake in Uttar Pradesh. Likewise today, the Congress is also undergoing the same phase as the BJP. The UP election result is a lesson for us to continue putting in efforts,” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. The Congress has got just two of 403 seats in UP.
“The poll results are opposed to BSP's expectations. We should not be discouraged by it. Instead we should learn form it, introspect and carry forward our party movement, and come back to power,” the 66-year-old leader added. The BSP has earned a 12.88 per cent vote share this time. In the last assembly elections, the party had got 19 seats.
Addressing the reporters on Friday, Mayawati rebuffed “media reports that claimed her party was the BJP's ‘team B’". “Only the BSP can stop the BJP from coming to power. The Dalit community, particularly the Jatavs, stood with the BSP. The BSP will amend its strategy to make a come back in the state politics,” she said, giving examples of the BJP and Congress, the two national parties that expanded their base in UP despite poll defeats.
The BJP combine has been re-elected for a second term with 273 seats (52 down form the last time's 325). Akhilesh Yadav, whose Samajwadi Party has won 111 seats, on Friday said “we have shown the BJP's seats can be reduced”.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, thanking the voters, said the people's mandate was a proof that they've rejected caste politics.
(With inputs from ANI)
