Mayawati won’t contest Poll

Former UP chief minister and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Wednesday announced that she would not contest the Lok Sabha elections. The leader cited "current political situation" for her decision.

BSP chief Mayawati said her party is in a strong alliance with the RLD (Rashtriya Lok Dal) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) and it is more important for the gathbandhan to win more seats than for her to win one. Mayawati, however, said she will contest later if needed.

In this Lok Sabha election, Mayawati had earlier announced a tie-up with Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party and the RLD. Although, the SP and RLD have announced the their list of candidates, it's the BSP which is yet to play out their cards for the election.

Accusing Congress of creating confusion in the minds of voters, Mayawati had earlier called out the grand old party and tweeted, "Congress can contest on all 80 seats if it wants, we are not allying with them in any state across the country for the 2019 elections."

Earlier this year, the two rival parties of Uttar Pradesh — Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party and Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party — announced an alliance the Lok Sabha elections 2019. The two parties have decided 50-50 seat-sharing deal in Uttar Pradesh. Out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, SP and BSP will contest on 38 seats each and have left two seats for the RLD. The parties, however, will not contest in Amethi and Raebareli represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi respectively.