Mayawati rules out poll alliance, PMship issue after elections

New Delhi, Mar 15 (PTI) Bahujan Samaj Party supremo
Mayawati Sunday ruled out seat adjustment with any party in
the Lok Sabha polls and declared that the issue of the prime
ministerial candidate of the Third Front would be decided
after the elections.

The dinner meeting of the Front leaders to be hosted by
her would not discuss the issue of prime ministership, she
told a press conference here.

"The meeting has nothing to do with the issue of prime
ministership. The issue will be decided only after the results
of the 15th Lok Sabha polls are out," she said.

But definitely, the meeting would discuss plans to keep
the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and National Democratic
Alliance (NDA) out of power, she said.

"All our allies are contesting the elections separately
and after the elections, we will unitedly prevent the UPA and
NDA from coming to power," she said, adding that the way the
Front was being targeted showed that its detractors have
become "panicky."

It was the "heartfelt desire" of party founder Kanshi
Ram that BSP captured power at the Centre and in all the
states, Mayawati, who has often been projected the party's
prime ministerial candidate, said.

Mayawati released the BSP's "appeal" for the Lok Sabha
elections in which she has promised that if her party came to
power at the Centre, her government will provide reservation
for upper castes.

Mayawati said that her party will make an all out effort
to ensure that UPA or NDA does not come to power.

She said the Left parties and some other parties were
also engaged in this task with determination. "We hope that in
this election, our purpose will be achieved," she said.

Replying to a question as to how many seats the BSP
would contest nationwide, she said that it would made known
within a fortnight.

She said that the leaders of UPA and NDA appeared to be
worried and concerned over the "rise" of the Front. "That is
why they are coming up with baseless and silly arguments
against the Front."

In the "Appeal," she attacked both UPA and NDA, and
alleged that their governments had failed to come out with
"proper" economic policies which had hit the common man hard.

She also found fault with the alliances led by the
Congress and the BJP in securing the borders, which, she
alleged, had led to terrorists strikes.

Mayawati, who led the BSP to victory in the UP Assembly
elections nearly two years ago, was critical of the Indian
government for "not giving a single rupee" to the state, even
though her government had sought a package of Rs 80,000 crore
for development in UP.

Slamming the "wrong policies" of the successive
governments at the Centre, Mayawati claimed that the economic
policies have been tailored to "suit the needs" of
capitalists, as political parties depended on corporates for
funds.

In her poll "Appeal", she charged the Congress and the
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with gradually trying to end
reservation by handing over certain government departments and
institutions to the private sector.

Mayawati said that the BSP government in UP had ensured
the reservation system, even after a government department was
handed over to the private sector.

She recalled Dr B R Ambedkar's assertion that a party can
bring about changes in the country only after it gets the
"master key of political power."

On economic policies of any future government headed by
BSP, Mayawati merely said that "our economic policies, as also
foreign policy, would be in the interest of the nation and the
society as a whole." PTI NAB
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