Mayawati won't contest 2019 Lok Sabha polls, will campaign for Mulayam and allies instead

The general election is going to start on April 11 and will culminate on May 19. The polling on the 80 seats in the state will be held in seven phases. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest 37 and the BSP 38, three are left for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and two for Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).

BSP chief Mayawati. (FILE PIC/AFP.)

BSP failed to win a single seat in the 2014 elections

Mayawati is planning to put her efforts in campaigning for BSP & candidates of its allies.

The polling on the 80 seats in the state will be held in seven phases between April 11-May 19. Results will be declared on May 23.

Lucknow: In a significant development, BSP supremo Mayawati on Friday announced that she would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections starting April 11. The decision was informed to all top party leaders in a meeting today.  Reports earlier said that she was considering options to contest from either Bijnore or Ambedkarnagar. ABP News has learned that Mayawati is planning to invest all her energies in campaigning for BSP, Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dals’s candidates. Interestingly, she will also campaign for Mulayam Singh Yadav with whom she shared an acrimonious past. As per reports, Mayawati will go to Mainpuri, from where Samajwadi Party chief has pitted his father Mulayam, to support his candidature. The two sharing a stage together would in itself be a spectacle as for 25 years the colossal leaders kept the political battle alive in UP by remaining arch-rivals. Mayawati’s decision to keep her away from the electoral arena is also because she understands that she’s the lone star face in the party and contesting from a certain seat will keep her completely occupied in that particular region. Therefore, in her efforts to boost the party’s prospects she can utilize all her time in visiting & promoting dozens of her candidates fielded in UP and various other states. BSP failed to win a single seat in the 2014 elections, sliding from a record high of 21 seats the party had won in 2009. She had won the Ambedkarngar seat in the 2004 Lok Sabha election, but resigned in 2005. She was later elected to the Upper House, Rajya Sabha. “I am in the Rajya Sabha so why must I contest,” was her curt reply when she was asked in 2014 about why she doesn’t intend to enter the electoral fray. The general election is going to start on April 11 and will culminate on May 19. The polling on the 80 seats in the state will be held in seven phases. Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest 37 and the BSP 38, three are left for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and two for Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi). Meanwhile, Mayawati this afternoon said that Jana Sena and BSP will fight together in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana and the seats have almost been finalized. “We would like to see Behen ji Mayawati ji as the Prime Minister of our country, this is our wish and our ardent desire,” Pawan Kalyan, Jana Sena chief told reporters.

Published at : 15 Mar 2019 02:24 PM (IST)

Tags :

Follow Election 2024 News on ABP Live for more latest stories and trending topics. Watch breaking news and top headlines online on ABP News LIVE TV

View More