In a major setback for Congress, BSP supremo Mayawati, on Thursday, announced an alliance with Ajit Jogi’s Janta Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC) for the upcoming Chhattisgarh state assembly elections.
BSP will contest on 35, while the JCC will contest on the remaining 55 seats of total 90 seats in the Chhattisgarh Assembly.
Addressing a press conference, Mayawati said, “With elections impending in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, a lot of rumours about BSP have been doing the rounds in the media regarding an alliance for the elections in these states. I have always said that we will form an alliance with a party that gives us a respectable number of seats.”
“This alliance is fully capable of stopping the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). However, there will be other regional parties in the state that will want to contest with us, we will take their support as well,” Mayawati added.
She further aimed a dig at the BJP-led government in the state, saying, “They have been ruling the state for the last 15 years and have done nothing for the state. They make big announcements, but the ground reality is – nothing has been done for the people from backward sections of society in the state.”
Meanwhile, Jogi also expressed his gratitude towards Mayawati and hit out at the BJP government in the state.
“BJP has been ruling the state for 15 years. They have been misusing power, money, their post, the administrative system. But now that we have formed this alliance, we will definitely put an end to them,” Jogi said.
The announcement came at a time when a BSP-Congress alliance was being predicted.
However, Congress leader Raj Babbar refuted rumours that the BSP-JCC alliance in Chhattisgarh signalled an end for the prospects of a BSP-Congress alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“The metrics for Vidhan Sabha and Lok Sabha elections are very different. Vidhan Sabha elections are for the state, whereas Lok Sabha elections are for the country. When the Lok Sabha elections come around, the situation regarding the alliance will be very different,” Babbar said.