Mayawati says will contest state polls alone

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“However, keeping in mind the people who are associated with the BSP’s ideology and, in the interest of BSP, the party has decided to contest elections in these states on its own,” she said. However, it remained unclear as to how many seats the party will contest in these states, where it has minimal presence.

Alleging that the governments in these five states are indulging in “atrocities against Dalits and other weaker sections”, Mayawati said she will campaign for her party candidates in all these five states.

In Uttar Pradesh, she claimed the party had emerged as the leading party in zila panchayat elections last year and this would turn into a clear majority in next year’s Assembly elections. She said the “corruption, jungle raaj, and anarchy” under the Samajwadi Party government and “casteist and religious narrow-mindedness” of the BJP are turning people away.

Attacking the Centre, she said the BJP government is following the “narrow and casteist philosophy” of its RSS to convert India into a “Hindu rashtra”.