My party is poor: Mayawati on why she is yet to kickstart UP election campaign

Mayawati has been facing criticism from within her party and opponents as the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is yet to begin its election campaign as opposed to her rivals who have already kickstarted their campaign.

BJP has been holding 'Jan Vishwas Yatras' across the state, while its top leaders including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have been addressing public meetings and launching developmental projects.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav has also been holding 'Vijay Rath Yatra' in different parts of the state, besides addressing joint rallies with his alliance partners Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary and Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) president Om Prakash Rajbhar.

Also Read | 'Exchequer money keeping them warm': Mayawati takes dig at BJP government

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has also addressed several public meetings in the state besides holding women meets at different places to woo female voters.

Mayawati, however, has not addressed any public meeting in nearly three months. The last time she had addressed a public meeting was in October.

The BSP supremo's long absence has prompted her opponents to question her will to fight the election and also termed it as an indication that she has already conceded defeat in the forthcoming assembly polls in the state.

"We are lagging behind the other parties....our voters are being wooed by our opponents...we need to launch our campaign immediately," said a UP BSP leader while speaking to DH here on Saturday.

Also Read | BJP, SP painting communal hues to garner votes: Mayawati

BJP leader and union minister Amit Shah had said in a rally at Moradabad that Mayawati confined herself to her home as it was very cold outside.

"Almost all the senior leaders of the BSP have left the party.....Mayawati knows that her party does not stand any chance in the forthcoming polls....this is why she has not yet launched her party's election campaign," said a senior SP leader here.

Mayawati, however, came out with an explanation for her absence in the electoral field. "My party is poor....it does not have funds like the BJP or others...if I hold rallies like them then it will incur financial burden on us," she said on Saturday.

"Besides, our style of campaigning is different from other parties....we do not copy other parties...our workers are active at the grassroots level," she added.

BSP won only 19 seats in the 2017 Assembly elections but as many as 15 of its MLAs either shifted allegiance or were expelled on charges of anti-party activities. Senior leaders like Ram Achal Rajbhar, former UP BSP president, and Lalji Verma, once a close confidante of Mayawati, have joined the SP along with half a dozen other BSP legislators. Others switched loyalty to the BJP.

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