With the dismal performance of Mahagathbandhan in Uttar Pradesh, the ground has opened for the blame game to the peak. While SP lost on 32 out of the 37 seats it contested on, BSP failed on 28 out of the 38 seats, getting the total of the Mahagathbandhan to just 15, contrary to much estimation which pegged the tally of the alliance in the ballpark of 50 seats.
BSP supremo, Mayawati taking the lead has been making critical remarks for the Samajwadi Party and its chief Akhilesh Yadav since the election results were declared. Now Mayawati has decided to take things a step further and has come out with a near-definitive declaration of the break-up with Samajwadi Party. In this recent tirade against SP, Mayawati has called Akhilesh Yadav ‘anti-Muslim’, she even went to the lengths of accusing Mulayam Singh of “working hand in glove with the BJP”.
In a closed-door meeting of the BSP, Mayawati outlined several reasons for the failure of the alliance. According to media reports, Mayawati also revealed that Akhilesh Yadav had asked Mayawati not to field any Muslim candidate as it would result in Muslim polarization. “But I did not listen to him. When Akhilesh Yadav was the Chief Minister, injustice was done to non-Yadav and Dalits and that is why they did not give votes to the SP. The SP had protested against the promotion of the Dalits also,” she said in a closed-door party meeting. She also accused Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav of “working hand in glove with the BJP” to frame her in Taj corridor case.
Furthermore, Mayawati also added that Akhilesh did not even bother to call her personally after the party decided to go solo in by-elections. Instead, Akhilesh called another BSP leader Satish Chandra Mishra.
Uttar Pradesh has always been a witness to rugged politics over the past years. An optimum amount of jolts, which makes the most populous Indian state a matter of importance for clever political strategy, has also seen days where political parties have surpassed all bounds of morality and ethics bringing shame to Indian political culture. SP-BSP alliance, born out of desperation to save political ground from the BJP, has been following this long-standing trend in UP politics and had completely failed to address the traditional rivalry between the two parties’ supporters. While the alliance numbers added up to give a significant fight to the BJP wave after a massive victory in 2014 general elections and 2017 assembly elections, however, the 2019 elections results indicated otherwise.
These recent comments also point towards the frustration of the alliance leaders over failure to consolidate votes of their respective supporters. Even the left-media nexus rooted for this ‘unholy’ alliance, however, it failed to make any significant difference at all. Ultimately with all the inputs, it is clear that the Mahagathbandhan was more of a “compulsion for survival” than a “new found friendship” and now these comments by Mayawati only point towards her total disillusionment from similar alliances in the future.
