Is BSP shying away from alliances under pressure?

Lucknow: Is the BSP deliberately shying away from pre-poll alliances under pressure from certain quarters? So it seems.

The BSP’s refusal to ally with the Congress in Madhya Pradesh and the party’s studied silence over its alliance with SP in UP has now set tongues wagging.

Party insiders claim that Ms Mayawati is under pressure from ‘those who matter’ to stay away from alliances.

The claim gains ground when one takes into consideration the fact that after her appeal for opposition candidates in the Gorakhpur-Phulpur by-elections in March, Ms Mayawati has not uttered a single word on the future of the alliance.

She did not issue any appeal to her voters for the Kairana and Noorpur by-elections and neither did she express any happiness over the Opposition victory.

“It is clear that she is under pressure from certain quarters not to forge an alliance because a division of non-BJP votes will help the BJP to return to power. We do not know what kind of pressure she is facing but we are certain that there is pressure on her”, said a party insider.

It is noteworthy that when SP chief Akhilesh Yadav announced earlier this month that he was ready to play a ‘junior partner’ in the alliance with BSP and would be willing to give up few more seats if needed, it was generally believed that there would be no obstacles in the way of the alliance that makes for a winning combination.

“With 21 per cent dalits and 45 per cent OBCs, the alliance can easily demolish the BJP which had secured 39.7 per cent votes in the 2017 Assembly polls. It seems that this has scared the daylights out of the BJP which is trying all tricks to drive a wedge in the alliance,” said a senior SP leader.