LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party's chief Mayawati on Thursday dropped hints that she could be an asset to fill the gap in the requisite number post-2024 Lok Sabha elections. Mayawati had decided to contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections independently maintaining equal distance from both the Congress-led INDIA bloc and the BJP-led NDA alliance.
In the same vein, the BSP supremo deplored the incident of mimicry of Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar by TMC MP Kalyan Banerjee calling it 'unfortunate and indecent'.
Giving a piece of advice to the parties in the opposition bloc asking them to refrain from making incendiary comments about parties that are not with INDIA, the BSP chief said no one knows when they might need the other group.
“It is inappropriate for anyone to make unnecessary comments on parties, including the BSP, that are not a part of the opposition alliance. My suggestion to them is that they should refrain from it because you can never say who will need whom in the future in the public interest,” Mayawati said at a media briefing here on Thursday.
“It is not right... such people and parties who make comments have to face a lot of embarrassment later. The Samajwadi Party is a living example of this,” she added.
The BSP chief’s statement gains significance amid the reports that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav was not in favour of reaching out to her to join the alliance comprising 28 opposition parties.
It may be recalled that SP and BSP had joined hands burying all the old hatchets to fight the last general election in 2019 together to stop the saffron juggernaut. But their grand alliance could do little on that front where the ruling BJP won 64 of the 80 seats leaving the BSP with 10 and SP with just five.
Immediately, after the results, a blame game was started between the two parties where Mayawati accused the SP of failing to get its votes transferred to BSP candidates.
Finally, the alliance between the two most unlikely partners was called off. However, in September, this year, Mayawati ruled out an alliance with either the Bharatiya Janata Party-led NDA or the opposition’s INDIA bloc, calling the parties in the grouping mostly “anti-poor, casteist, communal and pro-rich”.
Instead, Mayawati insisted that the BSP was used to fight against the policies of both alliances. In line with this approach, Mayawati, at her briefing, also described the suspension of about 143 Opposition MPs as a sad incident.
“Our party believes that the suspension of about 150 opposition MPs in both Houses during the current session of Parliament is neither good work nor a good record for the government or the opposition. No matter who is responsible for this, this is a sad and unfortunate incident in parliamentary history that will also shake the trust of the people,” said Mayawati.
She also referred to the viral video of suspended MPs ostensibly mimicking the Rajya Sabha chairman, saying it was also inappropriate and indecent.