Gearing up for hung assembly? Mayawati, Amit Shah praise each other

Mayawati said it was his “magnanimity” that he accepted the truth

In a significant political development amid the ongoing Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, BSP supremo Mayawati and Union Home Minister Amit Shah showered praise on each other, setting the tongues wagging about a possible tie-up between the BSP and BJP in the event of a hung assembly after the polls and was also being interpreted as an admission by the saffron party that it faced a stiff challenge in the polls.

Mayawati, who has rarely praised her rivals, while reacting to Shah's reported remarks that the BSP supremo was still a force to reckon with, said that it was his (Shah) "magnanimity" that he showed the courage to accept the truth. Shah had made the remarks in an interview aired on a private TV channel recently.

Speaking to reporters here after casting her vote on Wednesday, Mayawati also claimed that her party was getting the support from every section of the society and added that the BSP would be able to form the government in the state.

Interestingly, the BSP supremo attacked the Samajwadi Party (SP) and said that the latter's dream of forming government in the state would not come true as the people, including the Muslims, who are considered to be the core vote bank of the SP, were angry with the party. ''Dalits and the backwards suffered most during the regimes of the SP.....they will never support the party,'' she said.

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Political experts here said that the BJP wanted to keep the doors open for a tie-up with the BSP in the event no party was able to reach the majority mark of 202 in UP. ''Apparently Shah realises that Mayawati may come handy if the BJP misses the majority mark by a few seats.....it indicates that the BJP leaders are not sure of getting majority on their own,'' said a Lucknow-based political expert.

The mutual praise also assumes significance in view of the fact that the BJP and BSP had formed alliance governments on three occasions in UP in the past. ''The alliance between the BSP and BJP, if it takes place, will not be a surprise for anyone....after all, they have formed alliance governments earlier also,'' said another analyst while speaking to DH.

While the state BJP leaders sought to make light of Shah's remarks saying that what he had said was a fact and that nothing more should be read into it, a section of the saffron party leaders felt that Shah should not have made the remarks. ''It could enthuse the BSP workers....three phases of UP polls are still to be held...BSP's gain will hurt the SP but it will also hit our prospects as the upper castes, especially the Brahmins, could back BSP if they realise that its candidates are winning,'' a senior BJP leader said here.

SP and Congress leaders, however, said that they were not surprised by Shah and Mayawati praising each other. ''We have been saying that there is a tacit understanding between BSP and BJP....we have been proved correct,'' said a senior SP leader here.

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