BSP MP Says His Party Would Join INDIA Bloc If Mayawati Made PM Face

Bahujan Samaj Party MP Malook Nagar on Thursday said that party chief Mayawati should be the prime ministerial face for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Speaking to Good News Today channel, Nagar said, “Mayawati Ji should be declared as Prime Ministerial candidate.” The BSP leader’s comments were viewed as the party’s condition to be a part of the INDIA bloc.

This comes after West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal suggested Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge’s name to be the PM face.

“Congress must apologise to Mayawati Ji for taking away some of our party’s MLAs and declare her as a prime ministerial candidate. Only then, can INDIA bloc stop the BJP in 2024,” Nagar was quoted as saying by India Today.

Nagar hailed the BSP chief and said that there is no better face than that of Mayawati’s if Congress wants a Dalit representative for the PM’s post. “She will certainly think with a positive attitude if Congress agrees to our terms,” Nagar said.

It is worth noting that Mayawati’s party has said that it will keep away from the INDIA bloc, as well as the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA).

Nagar noted that his party has 13.5 per cent vote share in Uttar Pradesh, adding that in any scenario, BSP will have an edge. “We can win more than 60 seats if Mayawati is declared as the prime ministerial face,” Nagar added.

The BSP MP also shut down claims of differences with the Samajwadi Party.

Referring to reports about SP leader Akhilesh Yadav being unhappy with Mayawati, Nagar noted that the claims are false. He said that Yadav never raised any objections over Mayawati joining the INDIA bloc.

“In fact, Akhilesh Yadav was angry with Congress for not giving seats to his party in the recently concluded Madhya Pradesh assembly elections,” the BSP MP was quoted as saying.

He said that it was because of the complaints of the Yadav community with Congress over not accommodating the Samajwadi Party that BJP could form government in Madhya Pradesh. “I think we do not have any differences with the SP, politics is a game of perception,” Nagar said.

The BSP MP said that Congress should understand the situation and drop its arrogance.

Earlier, BSP MP Shyam Singh Yadav had said that his party, in fact, should join the INDIA bloc for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

He noted that if the opposition bloc contests the Lok Sabha polls in alliance in UP, they can put up a “good fight” against BJP.

Speaking to news agency ANI, Yadav said, “If you ask me, I will say very frankly, very clearly and very unambiguously that my party should also join the INDIA bloc. This is my personal opinion. But the BSP supremo (Mayawati) will do what she thinks, we are bound by her decision… It is my personal opinion that the BSP should be a part of the INDIA bloc…”

“There is no doubt that if all that parties contest together, we will be able to give a good fight (in Uttar Pradesh),” he added.

Meanwhile, Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary on Sunday had said that there were no talks of including Mayawati-led BSP in the INDIA bloc.

“BSP chief Mayawati has been saying from day one that she does not want to join the INDIA bloc. She cannot be included in the alliance by force,” Chaudhary noted.