 "People will regret voting SP to power: Mayawati")
A gracious loser Mayawati is not.
A day after a crushing verdict against her government, the Bahujan Samaj Party chief blamed the Congress and BJP for her party’s loss in the state.
“We hold the Congress and BJP responsible for polarising the votes in the state which resulted in our loss,” Mayawati, who submitted her resignation to the governor this morning, told a press conference.
According to Mayawati, the Congress and BJP had acted in a selfish manner to try and increase their presence in the state.
“After the elections were announced, the Congress selfishly made claim of making sub-quota for the Muslim minority in the Other Backward Caste (OBC) category,” she said.
The BJP had also tried to gain votes among the OBC categories and upper castes of the state, she said.
According to Mayawati, the moves by the two national parties resulted in voters of the Muslim community being worried about their interests being affected if the BJP came to power and decided to vote for the Samajwadi Party.
“Other than Dalit communities, upper caste votes were distributed among other parties which benefited SP,” Mayawati said.
She dismissed a question about whether corruption in the BSP had affected its fortunes saying the blame for the BSP’s loss lay with the Congress and BJP.
Trying to find a silver lining in her loss, Mayawati said the opposition parties had not been able to garner votes from the Dalit communities which had remained loyal to the BSP. She also thanked members of the upper castes and Muslim communities who supported the party.
However, if the Samajwadi Party were expecting any congratulations they were mistaken. “The benefits of our government’s efforts will go to the next government which will take the state back a few years,” Mayawati said.
A sign of what to expect had already been seen yesterday after the SP won, she said, referring to reports of the death of a seven-year-old and journalists being held hostage in Jhansi by SP workers.
“People of this state will very soon after suffering under the SP rule, remember our governance and bring us back to power,” she said.
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