NEW DELHI: Bringing the curtains down on possibility of Congress joining SP-BSP alliance at any stage to take on the ruling BJP, Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati made it clear here on Tuesday that her party would not have any pact with the grand old party in any state across the country for the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections commencing April 11.
She also said that her party would not take any help from Congress at any stage.
At a time when the Congress Working Committee (CWC) was meeting in Ahmedabad, Mayawati released a media communiqué to make the announcement.
In a statement, the BSP chief said: "It is being made clear again that the Bahujan Samaj Party will not have any electoral alliance with the Congress in any state."
Mayawati’s latest stand is also being witnessed as a jolt to alleged back-channel confabulations between SP and Congress so that the latter could be a part of the alliance which SP and BSP announced on January 12.
Even there were indications of some tacit understanding between SP and Congress over the seats but that is still to be seen on the ground in the days to come.
Notably, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav has been claiming at all the possible platforms that Congress was very much part of the SP-BSP alliance as the partners had decided to give a walk over to it in Gandhi bastion.
As per the seat sharing formula between the SP and BSP, of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest 37 and the BSP 38, leaving three for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
Both the regional satraps have also decided not to field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, the parliamentary seats of Congress chief Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi respectively.
However, in turn, Rahul Gandhi has also been using friendly and kind words for the SP and BSP leadership saying his party would also reciprocate in the same way on the seats to be fought by their senior leaders.
Speculations about a tacit understanding between the SP and Congress was also doing rounds but the insiders claim that Akhilesh has not been able to convince Mayawati to rope Congress into the tie-up.
Meanwhile, referring to her party's pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh,
Mayawati said it was based on "mutual respect" and "honest intentions", adding that "the SP-BSP alliance is perfect and capable enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh".
Addressing party leaders from various states, excluding Uttar Pradesh, in New Delhi, Mayawati said while several parties were "eager" for an alliance with the BSP, her party would not do anything for mere electoral gains as it could "harm the BSP movement".