Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has reaffirmed her decision to chart a course different from that of Opposition parties set to meet in Patna Friday to identify common issues ahead of the 2024 general election.
Taking a jibe at the meeting proposed by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar, Mayawati said Thursday that the proposal validates the idea that “people should keep shaking hands even if their hearts don’t meet”.
Her comments come against the backdrop of some Opposition leaders calling upon the BSP to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Uttar Pradesh, rather than the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP).
Mayawati, the four-time CM, said in a tweet Thursday that in a country reeling under “inflation, poverty, unemployment, backwardness, illiteracy, caste grudges and religious frenzy/violence”, the condition of “Bahujans” reflects that “parties like Congress and BJP are incapable” of implementing the egalitarian Constitution drafted by Dr B.R. Ambedkar.
“In fact, issues that Opposition parties are raising together ahead of Lok Sabha election, and the meeting of Opposition leaders in Patna called by Shri Nitish Kumar tomorrow on 23 June gives meaning to the proverb ‘whether hearts meet or not, keep shaking hands’.”
2. बल्कि अब लोकसभा आम चुनाव के पूर्व विपक्षी पार्टियाँ जिन मुद्दों को मिलकर उठा रही हैं और ऐसे में श्री नीतीश कुमार द्वारा कल 23 जून की विपक्षी नेताओं की पटना बैठक ’दिल मिले न मिले हांथ मिलाते रहिए’ की कहावत को ज्यादा चरितार्थ करता है।
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 22, 2023
Questioning the intentions of the Opposition parties in question, the BSP chief said that they should — in a bid to inspire confidence among the people — introspect and clean up their own intentions, before making such an effort ahead of the general election. “Mooh mein Ram, bagal mein chhuri (duplicitous attitude), till when will this go on,” she asked.
Mayawati went further to underline the importance of the state of Uttar Pradesh, which sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha, and said that the “attitude of Opposition parties does not reflect that they are serious about their objective in the right manner” in UP.
She remarked, “Without the right priorities, will the preparations for the Lok Sabha elections here really bring about the necessary change?”
4. यूपी में लोकसभा की 80 सीट चुनावी सफलता की कुंजी कहलाती है, किन्तु विपक्षी पार्टियों के रवैये से ऐसा नहीं लगता है कि वे यहाँ अपने उद्देश्य के प्रति गंभीर व सही मायने में चिन्तित हैं। बिना सही प्राथमिकताओं के साथ यहाँ लोकसभा चुनाव की तैयारी क्या वाकई जरूरी बदलाव ला पाएगी?
— Mayawati (@Mayawati) June 22, 2023
Mayawati’s comments came two days after Malook Nagar, the BSP MP from Bijnor, said the party was not invited to join the meeting of Opposition leaders since it ‘calls a spade, a spade’. Nagar also said that Opposition unity cannot be achieved without the participation of the BSP and that the party led by Mayawati can pose a challenge to the BJP in 2024.
Nagar told ThePrint Thursday that the BSP and its leader continue to raise issues related to the public and in the benefit of the country.
“People who call us someone’s B-team or A-team etc. or as being soft on some people, they will not benefit. They should know that criticising everything will not help them. If BJP is doing something right concerning the backwards and we appreciate it, it will help us come closer to the community and the Opposition will become stronger,” he maintained.
Speaking to ThePrint, SP MP from Moradabad, S.T. Hasan said Mayawati should join hands with Opposition parties with clear intentions and not to weaken the Opposition.
“The entire working and middle class wants to see the Opposition unite. Last time, people with 34 percent vote won while those with 66 percent vote were sitting in the Opposition. The government is resorting to arbitrariness and trying to spread monarchy even as we are fighting for democracy. The entire Opposition should come together and even Mayawati should come together with clear intentions and not to weaken the opposition,” he said.
Asked about Mayawati’s intentions, he said that while she too wanted to dislodge the BJP from power, she has her own compulsions which cannot be discussed in public.
On Tuesday, Hasan had told the media that Mayawati is a tall leader and should join Opposition parties with clear intentions, adding that such a coalition was necessary to dislodge the BJP from power in the general election due next year.
Reacting to Mayawati’s remarks, Janata Dal (United) national spokesperson K.C. Tyagi confirmed to ThePrint Thursday that the BSP was not invited to the Opposition leaders’ meet in Patna since Mayawati never expressed the intent to fight the BJP one-on-one and wanted to go solo. “She (Mayawati) never repeated this commitment that she wants to be a part of the coalition and fight the BJP one-on-one. So what can we do with it,” he asked.
Tyagi added that JD(U) chief Nitish Kumar extended the invitation for the meeting only to leaders who had expressed a desire to be part of an alliance to take on the BJP and to field candidates against it in direct fights.
In January this year, Mayawati had declared that her party will go solo in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Another senior JD(U) leader, who did not wish to be named, said no invitation was extended to the BSP since the 23 June meeting is limited to political parties with whom preliminary talks were already ongoing. He, however, added that the Opposition’s doors remain open for the BSP and that the onus of holding talks with Mayawati’s party lay with the Congress “which is why the party was not invited”.
“The Congress is in direct fight in states where elections are set to take place in the near future like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana and there are talks going on between the Congress and the BSP in some of these states. The Congress has been given the responsibility of talking to the BSP,” the leader said, adding that any party looking to strengthen the Opposition in the future is welcome to join the coalition.
“Things will clear by September,” the leader added.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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