Lucknow: Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati sprang a surprise on Wednesday when she announced she would not contest the Lok Sabha polls.
“Our coalition is doing good… I can vacate a seat and contest for the Lok Sabha later if I want,” Mayawati announced at a hurriedly-called press conference here. “But for the good of the country and the people, I don’t want to contest the polls right now,” she said.
She said her party has a strong alliance with the Rashtriya Lok Dal and the Samajwadi Party and it is more important for the alliance to win more seats than for her to win one. In the 2014 general elections, the BSP had fought from 503 Lok Sabha seats but drew a blank. Mayawati had served as a Rajya Sabha MP till recently.
The seven-phase Lok Sabha elections will be held from April 11 to May 19 and the votes will be counted on May 23.
