'Talks are underway for poll alliances in Uttar Pradesh,' confirms BSP chief Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday told her party workers that they should be prepared for any situation despite holding talks of alliance with other parties for future polls in Uttar Pradesh and other states.

"Although talks are underway for poll alliances in Uttar Pradesh and other states, you have to remain prepared for facing any situation in your respective states at all levels," she said at a meeting of national-level office bearers in Lucknow.

She added that the stand of the party while entering into any coalition during elections has been to get a ‘respectable share’ of the seats to contest or else fighting elections on its own is a better option.     

Mayawati, who was part of the show of unity among opposition parties at the swearing-in ceremony of Karnataka Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy, said after the debacle in that state the BJP government may advance the Lok Sabha elections.

The BSP chief affected a major reshuffle within her party, appointing RS Kushwaha as the Uttar Pradesh unit president in place of Ram Achal Rajbhar who has now been appointed as the BSP national general secretary and made coordinator for three states.

But Mayawati made it clear that she would lead the BSP for the next 20 to 22 years, telling party workers that nobody needed to dream of becoming the party president.

The BSP president, who had received a lot of criticism after she made her younger brother Anand Kumar vice president, announced changes in party constitution to tackle nepotism.

She stated that no relatives of the national president will be given any position in the party in their lifetime.