Mayawati snubs Congress, decides to go solo in MP, allies with Ajit Jogi in Chhattisgarh

In a major setback to the Congress's endeavour of cobbling up a united front against the Modi government, Mayawati's BSP on Thursday announced it will go solo in upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, and in Chhattisgarh it will join hands with a front led by Congress rebel Ajit Jogi.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati (ANI)

NEW DELHI: In a major setback to the Congress's endeavour of cobbling up a united front against the Modi government, Mayawati's BSP on Thursday announced it will go solo in upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh, and in Chhattisgarh it will join hands with a front led by Congress rebel Ajit Jogi. Congress was hoping that it will convince Mayawati for stitching an alliance in Madhya Pradesh, where elections to the 230-member assembly are due later this year, to spell trouble for the ruling BJP, which has been in power for the last 15 years. However, playing a spoilsport for the Congress, Ram Achal Rajbhar, BSP MP unit chief, on Thursday said his party will contest the upcoming elections on its own on all 230 seats. The BSP has also announced candidates for 22 constituencies, including three of the four sitting MLAs. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, Mayawati, the four-time Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister, has announced a pre-poll alliance between the BSP and Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress Chhattisgarh. Jogi was also present during the presser and attacked the Congress and the BJP for neglecting the welfare of the people of Chhattisgarh. "The BSP will fight polls on 35 seats and the JCC will contest on 55 seats," Mayawati said, adding that if the coalition wins majority, Ajit Jogi will be the chief minister. The BJP has been ruling the state since 2003. Jogi, the first chief minister of Chhattisgarh and a former CWC member, had floated the JCC after quitting the Congress in 2016.