Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati on Monday said she will contest the Lok Sabha election from Ambedkar Nagar after the declaration of the general elections results ‘if all goes well’, an apparent reference to the rule which mandates a prime minister or a minister to become a parliamentarian within a period of 6 months since taking office. This is the first time that Mayawati has laid down her ambitions of becoming the PM, directly or indirectly. Addressing an election rally in Ambedkar Nagar, Mayawati indicated that if she gets a chance to become the Prime Minister, she would grab the opportunity.
“If all goes well, I may have to seek election from here (Ambedkar Nagar) because the road to national politics passes through Ambedkar Nagar,” she said while addressing the crowd against the backdrop of a cutout of her in front of Parliament, captioned Prime Minister.
Mayawati noted that the era of ‘Namo Namo’ (Narendra Modi) was over and time had come for those who chant ‘Jai Bhim’. The BSP supremo has won the Lok Sabha elections from Ambedkar Nagar four times in 1989, 1998, 1999 and 2004.
Notably, her ally Akhilesh Yadav of Samajwadi Party has repeatedly said that he will back a woman’s candidature for the Prime Minister chair. Without mentioning Mayawatis name, he had said, “The Mahagathbandhan will give the country its next Prime Minister. I will be very happy if it comes from the other half of the population (women). If that happens, I will extend full support.”
The BSP and SP are two prominent players in Uttar Pradesh where they have come together to counter the BJP which in 2014 had won 73 of the 80 seats. Also in 2017 Assembly polls, the BJP stormed to the power with a brute majority. Both the BSP and SP were decimated, forcing the arch-rivals to join ranks to keep the saffron party at bay.
Also, several opposition leaders including NCP’s Sharad Pawar have indicated that they will sit together post-declaration of results to decide who will become the Prime Minister.