Mayawati to not contest 2019 LS polls; says winning seats more important

New Delhi: Clearing all the speculations, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chief Mayawati on Wednesday declared that she will not contest the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Mayawati said, “I will not contest the Lok Sabha elections.”

Mayawati said that it's more important for the SP-BSP-RLD alliance to win each and every seat it is contesting rather than her winning the polls.

She, however, laid stress that if needed, post elections, she can easily make her way to Lok Sabha by asking one of her MP's to vacate a seat for her.

"If I will contest then my party workers, despite my telling them not to do so, will spend all their energy in campaigning for me in the particular Lok Sabha constituency I choose to contest from. This will certainly not be in the interest of the party," said Mayawati.

"It is more important for the (SP-BSP-RLD) alliance to win each and every seat it contests on rather than me winning the elections. If the opportunity arises after the election then I can easily make my way to Lok Sabha by asking someone to vacate his seat," she added.

The Congress party on Sunday announced to leave seven Lok Sabha seats for Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh, where 80 seats are at stake.

The former chief minister also clarified that including Uttar Pradesh, the BSP is not in alliance with the Congress in any other state.

It is worth mentioning that SP, BSP, and RLD have forged an alliance to take on the BJP in the ensuing Lok Sabha elections in the state. SP president Akhilesh Yadav had, however, claimed that the Congress party is with the SP-BSP alliance in UP. SP-BSP has left Rae Bareli and Amethi seats for the Congress.

As per the seat-sharing agreement, SP is contesting 37 seats and BSP 38. Three seats have been given to the RLD – Mathura, Muzaffarpur, and Baghpat.