Maya in poll mode, rules out alliance

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Wednesday kicked off her party’s campaign for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections at a mega rally here and declared that her party would not have an alliance with any other party.

She launched a scathing attack on virtually every party, including the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). In her about 90-minute speech before a massive crowd of BSP supporters drawn from different parts of the country, Mayawati cautioned the party workers against “conspiracy” by the opponents and exhorted them to ensure that the party won the maximum number of seats in the elections so that it could ensure the “balance of power”.

Mayawati targeted Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi, comparing him with a “barking dog”, AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, Samajwadi Party  chief Mulayam Singh Yadav as well as the United Progressive Alliance government in her speech.

“There are reports that we may enter into an alliance with the Congress. I want to make it very clear that we will not have alliance with any party either at national or at state level and will go it alone in the polls,” she declared.

Attacking Modi, she said he had been a failure in his own state, Gujarat. “According to a report, every third child in Gujarat is malnourished. Condition of dalits and tribals in Gujarat is not good. We cannot expect a person to keep the country united who could not control riots after Godhra episode,” she said, accusing Modi of trying to use Sardar Patel’s legacy for political gains.

Mayawati also ridiculed the promises made by Modi during his election rallies, saying that “garajne wale badal baraste nahi” (barking dogs seldom bite). She also criticised Kejriwal and claimed that it was she who first spoke of cheaper power and water. “Kejriwal is indulging in gimmicks,” she said, accusing him of doing nothing about the migration of dalits from his village.

Mayawati said the government led by the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh was “insensitive”. “Uttar Pradesh has turned into a goonda pradesh. there is no law and order here. Goonds are running the government,” she said.