BJP leader Subramanian Swamy backs Mayawati's decision to go solo in upcoming assembly polls

Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday eulogised Bahujan Samajwadi Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati for her decision not to have an alliance with the Congress in the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Speaking to ANI, Swamy said Mayawati is absolutely right in not tying up with the Congress for the ensuing assembly polls. "Mayawati is right in going solo for the upcoming Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan assembly elections. She has a strong base in the region and can keep it intact," he said.

Swami also criticised Congress for not doing enough for the development of the country when it was in power. Venting anger over the rival political outfit, he said, "At present, Congress party has no anchors. All their main leaders have been booked for their corrupt practices in the cases that I have filed. The image of the Congress party is now of a party of jokers."

Mayawati, a former Uttar Pradesh chief minister, on Wednesday announced that his party would contest independently in the upcoming assembly polls citing that Congress party was trying to wipe out her party by giving it few seats in major states where they were negotiating for alliance.

"While Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi want a Congress-BSP alliance in the poll bound states like Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh and in Lok Sabha elections, unfortunately, Congress party Member of Parliament and former chief minister Digvijaya Singh, who due to the fear of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Enforcement Directorate (ED), does not want an alliance between the two parties," Mayawati had said.

Both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh are due for assembly elections end of the year as the term of the present governments are ending on January 20, 2019 and January 7, 2019 respectively.

-ANI