Mayawati to decide on support to UPA Wednesday

Lucknow  :  Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati Tuesday hinted at snap polls and asked party workers and supporters to gear up for the Lok Sabha polls and ensure victory for the party.

Addressing a mammoth rally at the Ramabai grounds on the outskirts of the state capital, Mayawati said her party was bitterly opposed to allowing FDI in retail and would continue to oppose it.

Accusing the Congress-led UPA-II of being behind the pathetic condition of farmers, the poor and the middle class, Mayawati also slammed Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for his ‘Paise Ped Par Nahin Lagte’ (Money does not grow on trees) statement. She blamed the union government’s economic policies as the reason for Indians’ travails.

The BSP’s 21 MPs in the Lok Sabha are crucial for the Manmohan Singh government after the withdrawal of support by the Trinamool Congress’s 19 MPs.

Mayawati also announced that she would deliberate with party leaders on whether to continue support to the UPA or not and would announce the course of her future relationship with the union government Wednesday.
She, however, told the gathering more than thrice that elections for the Lok Sabha “appear to be in the offing sooner than later” and asked party cadres to be ready for the polls.

“You all have to ensure that BSP candidates are elected to parliament in large numbers not only from Uttar Pradesh but also from Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra,” she told the gathering.

She also cautioned voters not to be swayed by sops and schemes likely to be announced by the Congress in the run-up to the general elections. “Congress will try to tempt you with schemes and projects as elections come near but do not be carried away,” she said adding that they should realize that their pathetic living condition was because of Congress policies.

Referring to the scams, the four-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the country was fed up of scams that seem to be popping up every day. “First it was CWG, then 2G, then Coalgate and the issue of black money stashed in foreign bank accounts,” she said adding that the country had enough of corruption.

She also accused the union government of siding with the ‘dhanna seth’ (corporate houses and the rich) at the cost of the people of the country. She also accused the Congress of humiliating Dalit icons.

File Photo : AFP