BSP declares war on BJP

The Bahujan Samaj Party is willing to give or receive support from any political party in the country to weaken the Bharatiya Janata Party.

BSP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Mayawati told a press conference in Lucknow on Wednesday that her party would be willing to weaken the BJP which she called a communal and anti-dalit party. She was even willing to join forces with the Samajwadi Party whose president Defence Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav is her bitterest enemy in politics.

Mayawati claimed that crimes against dalits had increased in UP after Kalyan Singh became chief minister. "Mr Singh never behaved like the BSP's partner and tried to rule like a dictator," she charged.

She said she would seek cancellation of the membership of the 12 BSP MLAs who had voted in Kalyan Singh's favour. These MLAs, she said, would be expelled from the party.

Mayawati alleged that the BJP had issued threats to her life. The BSP leader said she was feeling insecure after these threats. BSP MLAs, she claimed, were also being threatened. Demanding an increase in her security cover, she said her assassination would lead to violence and casteist tensions all over the country.