Another Maya jolt to Congress, this time in Karnataka

Last month, Mayawati gave clear signals that she was not happy with the Congress as she ruffled its feathers by announcing that she would go solo in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the BSP has its voter base, scheduled to go to polls in coming months.

Last month, Mayawati gave clear signals that she was not happy with the Congress as she ruffled its feathers by announcing that she would go solo in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the BSP has its voter base, scheduled to go to polls in coming months.

BENGALURU: After she put paid to Congress' attempts of stitching an alliance in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, BSP chief Mayawati once again bumped the main opposition party and this time in Karnataka, where the JDS, a BSP ally, is in power with Congress' support. Last month, Mayawati gave clear signals that she was not happy with the Congress as she ruffled its feathers by announcing that she would go solo in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, where the BSP has its voter base, scheduled to go to polls in coming months. In yet another blow to the Congress, N Mahesh, the lone BSP member of the Karnataka Cabinet, has resigned on Thursday. Mahesh, the primary and secondary education minister, in the JDS-Congress government has quit on directions of the BSP supremo, sources said. Mahesh, however, said he quit to focus more on his assembly constituency and to strengthen his party ahead of Lok Sabha elections. The MLA from Kollegal in Chamrajnagar district submitted his resignation to Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy here. "I do not have any grouse against anybody in the government. As a minister I did my best and toured across the state. This resignation is purely due to personal reasons," Mahesh was quoted by PTI as saying. Last week, Mayawati accused the Congress of trying to "finish" the BSP, saying the grand old party is more interested in ending destroying her party than dislodging the BJP. "In Karnataka we tied up with regional party. In Chhattisgarh too, we did the same. Now we have decided to go alone in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. We may go with regional parties there but certainly not with the Congress," she had said. Mayawati had said that even though the Congress chief and his mother Sonia Gandhi appeared to be in favour of an alliance, there were other "senior leaders" who worked to foil any possibility of an understanding. Mayawati alleged the Congress had not mended itself and like the BJP "betrayed" her party. The Congress is long hoping to stitch an anti-BJP front for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections to out the saffron party from the power.