NEW DELHI:
Bahujan Samaj Party
chief
Mayawati
on Monday ruled out any
pre-poll alliance
for the
Lok Sabha elections
even as she kept open the option of
post-poll alliance
. Mayawati also refuted reports that she is considering retirement from politics.
"Our experience with alliances has never been beneficial for us and we suffer more losses from alliances.
For this reason, most of the parties in the country want to form an alliance with BSP. An alliance can be considered after the elections. If possible,
BSP
can extend its support after the elections ... our party will fight the elections all alone," she said.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the BSP had allied with the
Samajwadi Party
and the Rashtriya Lok Dal. While the BSP won 10 seats with a vote share of 19.26%, the SP could win only 5 with a vote share of 17.96%. The RLD could not win any seat.
The Congress reacted sharply to Mayawati's announcement and said, "We welcome her decision, but today's political scenario is such that all opposition parties should have come together to fight against the BJP which only got around 37.8% of votes. It was important for the rest of the parties to consolidate the rest 62% of the votes to defeat the BJP."
She also refuted the claims that she may take a retirement from politics, saying that she will continue to work to strengthen her party.
"Last month, I declared Akash Anand as my political successor following which it was being speculated in media that I may soon retire from politics. However, I want to clarify that it's not the case, and I will continue to work towards strengthening the party," she said.
The BSP chief exhorted party leaders and workers to "work with full strength to help the BSP get a favourable verdict" in the 2024 election.
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