Mayawati won't contest LS election, says "will get a seat vacated & contest if need arises"

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.

Mayawati (Source: PTI)

BSP failed to win a single seat in the 2014 elections.

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.

The general election is going to start on April 11 and will culminate on May 19.

Lucknow: In a major decision, BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday announced that she would not contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections starting April 11. However, she said that if need arises she will get a seat vacated post polls and would contest from it. Addressing a press conference, Mayawati said her party’s alliance with Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal party is in a healthy condition. She hoped her decision to not contest would be welcomed by party workers and candidates in the electoral fray. ABP News had earlier reported that the decision of her not contesting Lok Sabha polls was officially informed to all top party leaders in a meeting last week.  There were speculations that she was considering to contest from either Bijnore or Ambedkarnagar but today’s announcement has officially put all that to rest. ABP News has also 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 big wigs 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).

Published at : 20 Mar 2019 01:08 PM (IST)

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