Mayawati blames SP's post-poll conduct, breaks ties with party

Mayawati

Blaming the post-poll conduct of the Samajwadi Party (SP), the BSP chief Mayawati on Monday announced breaking the alliance with SP in all future elections, marking the end of a brief coming together of the two in the Lok Sabha elections.

Making a terse announcement in a tweet, she referred to the bitter past between the two parties, an apparent reference to the Guest House incident in the mid-90s when Mayawati was attacked by SP men, she said she had forgotten old issues and concerns before tying up for the recent Lok Sabha polls.

"However, the conduct of SP after the Lok Sabha elections forces BSP to think whether it is possible to defeat the BJP by joining hands with the SP. It is not possible. Hence in the interest of the party and the movement, the BSP in future would contest every big and small election on its own," Mayawati said in the tweet.

The latest development came a day after Mayawati chaired a meeting with her party office bearers, members, legislators and parliamentarians to chalk out the strategy for the upcoming by-election to 11 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

"It is well known the BSP had forgotten all issues and concerns it had with the SP. We sidelined our concerns about anti-Dalit and anti-BSP decisions of SP in 2012-17, the anti-reservation stance of SP and deteriorating law and situation under the SP rule just for the larger interest of the public and has respected the alliance dharma," tweeted Mayawati on Monday.

Shortly after the conclusion of the Lok Sabha polls, Mayawati claimed that the SP's voters did not support the alliance in the Lok Sabha elections. She had then announced that her party would fight the 11 Assembly by-elections in Uttar Pradesh alone. However, she had also said that this was not a "permanent break" from her alliance with the SP.

The BSP and the SP contested 38 parliamentary seats each out of 80 seats. However, the BSP could only secure 10 and SP 5 seats