Mayawati dares Congress to field candidates in all 80 seats

NEW DELHI: Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav mocked the Congress for its announcement that it will not field candidates from seven seats in Uttar Pradesh, daring the Congress to contest all seats and asking it to “stop spreading confusion” as they said the BSP-SP-RLD alliance is capable of taking on the BJP alone.

BSP chief Mayawati was the first to respond, saying the Congress is completely free to put up candidates on all 80 seats in UP and that the alliance is powerful enough to beat the BJP on its own. “Congress must not deliberately spread confusion of leaving seven seats,” she said. SP leader Akhilesh Yadav reiterated Mayawati’s words on Twitter.

Earlier, SP and BSP had said they will not field candidates from Amethi and Rae Bareli, the pocket boroughs of the Congress, although they kept the national party out of the opposition alliance.


With both the alliance and the Congress seeking anti-BJP votes, the SP-BSP-RJD alliance has coined a new slogan for its campaign – ‘Ek bhi vote na ghatne paye, Ek bhi vote na batne paye’ (Let no vote get reduced, let not one vote get divided) – to prevent division of votes and ensure supporters of the parties back whichever candidate from the alliance contests. Nine out of 11joint rallies of Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav have been slotted in SP strongholds in an effort to encourage SP’s supporters to vote for Mayawati’s candidates.

“There was always an unsaid understanding between SP and Congress not to put up candidates on each other’s family seats,” a senior SP leader told ET on condition of anonymity.