From whom is Mayawati expecting 'respectable seat share', BJP asks after BSP chief's remarks on forging alliances

Lucknow: The BJP on Sunday sought to know from whom BSP chief Mayawati was expecting “respect” vis-a-vis her statement that her party will ally with any group as long as BSP gets a “ respectable share of seats ”. “Is she expecting respect from those who had shattered her pride and dignity in the infamous 1995 Guest House case?” asked media co-ordinator of Uttar Pradesh BJP Rakesh Tripathi. Recalling the incident from over two decades ago, Tripathi said it was BJP MLA Brahm Dutt Dwivedi who had come to Mayawati’s rescue. [caption id=“attachment_4172251” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati. PTI[/caption] “Today, Mayawati is expecting respect from those who had shown scant respect to her in the past. This shows how nervous she is and that her voter base has eroded,” Tripathi said. Earlier on Sunday, Mayawati had said, “The efforts of Opposition parties will be to stop the BJP from coming to power at any cost. For this talks of forging an alliance is also going on. Our party is not against the alliance, but our stand is very clear. That is, we will ally with a political party only if we get respectable share of seats. Or else, our party feels it is better to contest elections alone.” On the BSP chief’s statement that the BJP is not leaving any stone unturned to derive mileage from the demise of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, the BJP media co-ordinator said: “Mayawati has honoured so many great and eminent personalities by constructing their statues in Lucknow. I fail to understand why is she having any problem if the BJP is holding various programmes in honour and memory of Atalji.” Tripathi said: “Mayawati has been treating Dalits as her vote bank. The BJP on the other hand has worked to increase the bank balance of the Dalits. She is visualising that her bank is being virtually robbed. Hence, she is worried.