Will have poll pact with Gondwana Gantantra Party for Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Monday said her party will enter into an electoral pact with the Gondwana Gantantra Party for the assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh and go it alone in Rajasthan and Telangana.

The BSP will not contest the Mizoram Assembly polls.

The Election Commission has announced that assembly polls in Mizoram, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana will be held on different days beginning November 7 and the votes will be counted on December 3.

In a series of posts on X, Mayawati welcomed the Election Commission for announcing the schedule for the assembly elections to five states but said the 'real challenge' for the poll panel is to "make the elections completely free and fair by putting an end to the misuse of government machinery and money power. Apart from entering into an electoral pact with the Gondwana Gantantra Party in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the BSP, except for Mizoram, is contesting the elections alone in Rajasthan and Telangana without compromising with anyone and is hopeful of getting good results in these states," she said in a post on X in Hindi.

The BSP chief also said it is necessary to curb the tempting promises and lofty announcements made especially by the ruling party to influence the elections, regarding which the Supreme Court has also issued a notice. Strict action is also necessary against frenzied casteism, communalism and violence, she added.

In the 2018 Chhattisgarh assembly elections, the BSP had fielded 35 candidates, of which two had won. In the Madhya Pradesh assembly polls held in the same year, the Mayawati-led party had fielded 227 candidates, of which two had emerged victorious.

In the Rajasthan assembly election in 2018, the BSP had fielded 190 candidates, of which six had won. However, in 2019, all six BSP MLAs had submitted a letter to Assembly Speaker CP Joshi to merge the legislative party with the Congress.

The BSP could not register a single win in the 2018 Telangana Assembly polls even though it had fielded 106 candidates. The party did not contest the 2018 Mizoram assembly elections.