Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) national president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati has announced on Friday that BSP will fight the 2022 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh alone, according to news agency ANI. The announcement was made on the occasion of her birthday.
“BSP will not forge any alliance with any political party for the upcoming Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The party will contest the elections in all Assembly constituencies on its own,” Mayawati told ANI.
She asserted that just like 2007, the BSP will form a government in Uttar Pradesh on its own next year.
“I have never compromised with principles for the sake of getting power. All our party workers must unitedly start preparing for these elections,” she said.
The BSP won no seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. It bagged 19 seats in the 2017 UP assembly polls and 10 in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, when it fought in an alliance with the Samajwadi Party. It parted ways with the SP soon after the results were declared.
Mayawati is camping in Delhi, where she is holding regular review meetings for the 2022 Assembly election in Uttar Pradesh. She has directed the party office bearers to strengthen the organisation at the booth level. To regain lost ground, the BSP plans to win back the support of Brahmins, backward classes and Muslims, the party leader said.
Yesterday she had called upon party workers to celebrate her 65th birthday on Friday as Jankalyankari Diwas or people’s welfare day.
“The birthday should be celebrated in a simple manner following the Covid-19 guidelines,” she said.
In a series of tweets, Mayawati said the party workers should assist the poor and impoverished people who have had to suffer due to the pandemic.
In Uttar Pradesh, the party’s state unit had directed party leaders to celebrate her birthday in all the 75 districts by assisting migrants, farmers, labourers and poor people impacted by the economic slowdown, he said.
In Lucknow, the birthday programme would be organised at the divisional office located near the Pasi Qila.
“We will visit hamlets or hospitals to distribute sweets and fruits,” the BSP leader said.
The BSP used to celebrate the occasion in a grand manner when the party was in power in Uttar Pradesh. It began the practice of observing Jan Kalyankari Diwas after being voted out of office in the 2012 assembly elections.
After Mayawati became UP chief minister for the fourth time in 2007, there was a grand celebration across the state on January 15, 2009. The display of opulence was quite palpable, the state capital was draped in blue and a massive stage was set up near the chief minister’s residence. The BSP supporters were transported from all the districts and neighbouring states to participate in the programme.
