Mayawati: Prime ministerial 'aspirations' on hold

May 23, 2019 18:53

Mayawati never said it in so many words. But the BSP supremo threw enough hints during the poll campaign that she considered herself to be in the race for the prime minister's post, should the opposition manage to contain the BJP.

At a rally in Ambedkarnagar, for example, she recalled that she has been elected to the Lok Sabha from that seat in the past. "Time will tell. If all goes well, I will have to seek election from here again," she said, seemingly referring to the possibility of her entering Parliament through a by-election later, if something opened up in New Delhi.

The results, however, have been a disappointment for the four-time Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao famously called a "miracle of democracy' when she became the CM the first time in 1995.

The BJP has trumped her Bahujan Samaj Party's alliance with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party in the state. Yet her own party has done better than in 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it drew a complete blank.

The alliance in UP alliance happened against all odds, ending a bitter parting of ways between the two sides nearly 25 years ago. SP workers had then attacked a BSP legislators' meeting at the state guest house in Lucknow and reportedly roughed her up.

Mayawati referred to the infamous episode more than once even during the joint press conference where she and Akhilesh Yadav announced their 'gathbandhan' earlier this year. -- PTI

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