Mayawati rejects Mulayam Singh Yadav’s offer

New Delhi: BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday trashed the idea suggested by RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav to join hands with the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and put up a grand alliance against BJP.

Rejecting the offer, Ms Mayawati said that the SP and BJP are in a covert alliance and her party would contest the next Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh alone.

Earlier, Samajwadi chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had told reporters that if the RJD chief takes initiative, he “does not mind joining hands with Ms Mayawati in UP”.

“If Laluji takes initiative in this regard, I don’t have any issues in joining hands (with Ms Mayawati),” Mr Yadav said.

Mr Lalu Prasad Yadav had suggested in Patna this week that the SP and BSP should also forge a grand alliance on the lines of JD(U), RJD and the Congress.

Samajwadi Party and BSP had contested the 1993 Assembly elections in UP together. However, their alliance was short lived. The SP chief had then stated that the alliance with the BSP was “a big political mistake”.

Ms Mayawati told reporters that there is no question of her party joining hands with the SP. “Whenever SP government comes to power, incidents of crime, communal violence, rape and dacoity, reach their peak. It is the character of this party,” she said.

“People want the BSP to come back in power to restore the peace and harmony in the state. I am confident that people in UP will help me come back to power,” she said.