The Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati announced on Wednesday that she will not contest the Lok Sabha elections, news agency ANI reported.
“In view of the present circumstances and need of the country and the interests of the party, movement and public, it is the need of the hour that I do not contest the Lok Sabha polls. And this is the reason that I have decided not to contest the Lok Sabha polls,” Mayawati said at a press conference in Lucknow.
“If it so happens that I have to get elected to the Lok Sabha later, I can contest from any seat by getting it vacated and become an MP. I will not face any problem,” she said.
The BSP chief also said she does not want to see any damage to the SP-BSP-RLD alliance in Uttar Pradesh.
“Hence, winning each and every Lok Sabha seat is more important than my personal victory,” Mayawati said.
She claimed that all she has to do is to go and file nomination papers and her party workers will discharge their responsibilities to ensure her victory.
Earlier this week, Mayawati had reiterated that BSP would not fight the upcoming polls with the Indian National Congress in any state. The BSP supremo had said that the SP-BSP alliance was enough to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), especially in Uttar Pradesh.
When Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav announced their alliance, they had said that had said that their alliance would not fight elections in Amethi and Rae Bareli parliamentary constituencies, which are considered legacy seats for the Gandhis.
The polling will be held from April 11 to May 19. India’s most populous state Uttar Pradesh would go to polls in seven phases.
Uttar Pradesh is a politically crucial state and sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha. It also holds the key to the formation of next government. The state has given India the maximum number of Prime Ministers. There have been 14 Prime Ministers so far and ten of them have been from Uttar Pradesh, including the incumbent Narendra Modi.