Amidst ongoing clash between father-son duo of Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, the rival team is all set to take on upcoming polls with BSP chief Mayawati announcing on Tuesday that her party will field 97 Muslim candidates, the highest ever in its history together with 113 candidates from upper castes, 106 candidates from backward castes and 87 Dalits in the impending Assembly polls in UP.
The Muslim candidates will be a dozen more than in 2012. Mayawati also stressed that her party was not partial to scheduled castes, but was open to all segments of society. Repeating that BSP is not in any mood of alliance or understanding with any other party, she said she will announce the names of the applicants once the election dates are declared.
“Only those who are weak need alliances. BSP sees the possibility of forming its absolute majority government,” said the former chief minister.
Asserting that the SP’s Yadav vote had been divided between Shivpal and Akhilesh groups, she said, Muslims should not waste their votes on SP or Congress. She added that the split in Muslim votes will “only benefit the BJP” and that is why PM Modi did not comment on the Yadav family feud during his rally in Lucknow.
“SP’s Yadav vote bank is only 5 to 6 per cent and it plays a decisive role only on 60 to 70 seats. The Dalits have their votes in all 403 Assembly seats and in every seat their numbers are not less than 50,000. In some seats it is even 1 lakh. BSP is getting the votes of Dalits who are 22 per cent overall. In Muslim-dominated areas, votes of only Muslims and Dalits will lead BSP candidate to victory if the minority community’s votes are not split,” she said.
While answering on Supreme Court’s verdict to ban use of caste or religion to seek votes, she said she welcomed the top court’s decision.
While Mayawati has lessened the number of Brahmin candidates from 74 in the last election to 66 this time, the number of backward caste contenders also has been abridged from 113 in last polls to 106. About 36 “Kshatriya” candidates have been chosen by the party, which is thrice of the last time. 11 candidates of BSP belong to “Kayastha, Vaishya, and Punjabi” castes.
Taking on the BJP, Mayawati said that the PM had realized that BJP was not going to win the elections, and hence had said that “this election is not about victory or defeat but about responsibility”.
“What responsibility is he talking about? His government has not fulfilled even one-fourth of promises he made in the Lok Sabha elections. He is asking his party workers for responsibility, but he should also think how responsible he himself is,” she added.
