UP polls: Mayawati rubbishes talk of BJP pact

New Delhi/Lucknow: Desperate to shrug off the speculation about a possible post-poll tieup between her Bahujan Samaj Party and the BJP, BSP supremo Mayawati, who is relying heavily on Muslim votes in the ongoing UP Assembly polls, on Tuesday targeted the saffron party, saying that the people of Uttar Pradesh would not be deceived by the BJP’s tactics. SP president and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has, on the other hand, been reiterating his claim that Mayawati “cannot be trusted” and that she could “align with the BJP at any time”.

Ahead of the sixth phase of the UP polls on Saturday, Mr Yadav said: “Mayawati can anytime align with the BJP, she cannot be trusted. People should always be careful of her. Both BJP and BSP don’t want the Samajwadi Party to come to power again, but we trust that the people of Uttar Pradesh would support us.”

“The Samajwadi Party has done the maximum amount of work in the state and we have built the Metro at a very fast pace ... never done earlier by any government,” he said at a rally in Deoria.

Targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s “cremation-graveyard remark”, Mr Yadav said his party was more focused on discussing laptops and smartphones. The CM’s comments came even after voting for the fifth phase of Assembly elections continues in Uttar Pradesh.

The chief minister also took a dig at Mr Modi over his “fractured mandate” remark, saying that those who were talking about getting 300 out of 403 seats were now giving indications about a coalition government.

“Earlier the PM and his party leaders were claiming that they will win 300 seats, but till the time the polls reached Mau they are talking about a coalition government... Modi did not come to Azamgarh as he knew the SP was getting all the 10 seats in the district,” the SP chief said.

BSP supremo Mayawati, speaking at another rally, said her party would not get deceived by the BJP’s tactics. The former Uttar Pradesh CM further said the general public was agitated over the November 8 demonetisation drive and the false promises made so far, adding they would therefore not let the BJP emerge victorious in the Assembly elections.

She sought votes for jailed gangster-turned-politician Mukhtar Ansari, arguing that his victory would erase his “bahubali (muscleman)” image.

Mr Ansari, who faces 40 criminal cases, including those of murder and kidnapping, recently joined the BSP after the merger of his Qaumi Ekta Dal (QED) with the ruling SP fell through due to the strong objections voiced by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav. The QED then merged with the BSP to consolidate its Muslim votebank in some parts of eastern UP where the Ansari brothers have their strong influence.

The BSP has fielded him from Mau, the seat he holds in the outgoing Assembly. He was given custody parole by a trial court from February 16 to March 4 to allow him to campaign in the election. The Delhi high court, however, set aside the lower court’s order.