Dinner meeting with potential allies to steer clear of discussing prime minesterial candidate, she adds
New
Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party, or BSP, chief Mayawati on Sunday said the
party will contest the April-May general election on its own, but will
keep open options for post-poll tie-ups, with the intention of
preventing the country’s two main political formations from coming to
power.
How to prevent the Congress-led United Progressive
Alliance (UPA) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National
Democratic Alliance (NDA) from taking power in the elections would be
discussed at a dinner she was hosting for leaders of the so-called
Third Front on Sunday night, Mayawati said.
“We
will think of a post-poll tie-up in an effort to defeat the UPA’s and
NDA’s designs to come to power,” the Uttar Pradesh chief minister, who
led the BSP to power in India’s most populous state two years ago, told
a press conference in the national capital.
The “Third
Front,” a non-Congress, non-BJP alternative that is still taking shape,
is courting Mayawati to join the alliance ahead of the elections that
begin on 16 April. Mayawati refused to comment when asked whether she
would agree to be the prime ministerial candidate of the front, which
is led by the Left parties.
The BSP leader also said there
would be no discussion on a prime ministerial candidate during her
dinner meeting with the non-Congress, non-BJP leaders on Sunday night.
Caste
appeal: BSP chief Mayawati releases a party booklet detailing promises
to voters, including reservations for upper castes, ahead of the
general election, in New Delhi on Sunday.
Manish Swarup / AP
“The
dinner meeting is an informal meeting of parties opposed to the
Congress-led UPA and BJP-led NDA. The meeting is not going to discuss
the issue of prime ministership..,” she said.
Mayawati
released the BSP’s “appeal” for the Lok Sabha elections, in which she
promised that if her party came to power at the Centre, her government
will provide reservations for upper castes. The BSP’s power base rests
mainly on its appeal for the Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC/STs).
The third political
alternative was formally launched last week with constituents including
the Communist Party of India (Marxist), or CPM, the Communist Party of
India, or CPI, the Revolutionary Socialist Party, or RSP, the Forward
Bloc, Janata Dal (Secular), the Telugu Desam Party and the Telangana
Rashtra Samiti.
The Biju Janata Dal (BJD), which has pulled
out of an alliance with the BJP in Orissa, and the All India Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam, or AIADMK, also attended a meeting of the grouping
at the CPM headquarters in New Delhi on Sunday.
“The parties
that met today will jointly campaign (in the general elections) and
they will issue a joint mission statement for an alternative government
at the Centre,” said a senior CPM leader, who didn’t want to be
identified.
Leaders of the front issued a joint statement
after the meeting, vowing to fight the two main coalitions led by the
Congress and the BJP.
“We don’t want to call this coalition
a Third Front as of now because we expect more parties to join us
before announcing the formation of such an alliance,” said Sitaram
Yechury, a member of the CPM politburo.
The BJD’s B.J.
Panda also said a full-fledged coalition may emerge only after the
elections. At the meeting, CPM general secretary Prakash Karat also
read out a letter from Jharkhand Vikas Morcha leader and former
Jharkhand chief minister Babulal Marandi who expressed his interest in
joining a non-Congress, non-BJP political formation, said a Left leader
who attended the meeting.
INDIA ELECTION EYE-Mayawati says to go it alone in vote
*
Mayawati, the chief of the Bahujan Samaj
Party (BSP), an organisation of Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambdvipa,
that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath (SC/ST) voters strong in the
potentially swing state of Uttar Pradesh, has said her party would
fight the election alone (All newspapers).
Mayawati is a candidate for the post of prime minister if the Third Front wins enough number of seats.
http://www.linkingpeopletogether.com/?p=3584
Indian News - Mayawati, Third Front leaders meet but skirt leadership issue
Bahujan
Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Third Front leaders, who met over
dinner here to discuss Lok Sabha election strategies, said there was no
decision on any prime ministerial candidate but added they would join
hands to form a strong alternative to the Congress and the Bharatiya
Janata Party (BJP).
After the dinner which was a matter of intense political speculation
over the weekend, Mayawati, flanked by the leaders of the newly formed
Third Front, read out a prepared statement saying they would all
contest elections to prevent a government led either by the Congress or
the BJP.
Mayawati as well as the Third Front leaders refused to answer
mediapersons’ queries, including on the question of the prime
ministerial candidate.
Prakash Karat and Sitaram Yechury of the Communist Party of
India-Marxist (CPI-M), A.B. Bardhan of the Communist Party of India
(CPI), H.D. Deve Gowda of the Jahata Dal-Secular (JD-S), K. Chandra
Shekhar Rao of the Telangana Rashtra Samiti, N. Chandrababu Naidu of
the Telugu Desam Party and other leaders of the Third Front met
Mayawati at her new residence on the Rakabganj Road here.
The dinner meet, keenly awaited after the speculation that Mayawati
would join the Third Front only if she was projected as prime
ministerial candidate, began around 7.30 p.m. and lasted for about two
hours while her house was converted into a fortress. Scores of
journalists waited outside behind barricades.
However, at the end of it, the leaders refused to spell out the content of their discussions.
The statement read out by Mayawati, Uttar Pradesh chief minister, in
Hindi said: “All senior leaders discussed in detail the current
political situation in the context of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
All leaders decided that we will together present a strong, thoroughly
secular non-Congress-non-BJP alternative before the nation that will
form the government after the elections.
“Our policies will be completely in the national interest, in the interest of people,” Mayawati said after the dinner meeting.
Earlier in the day, Mayawati told a press conference here that she
would go it alone in the elections and consider alliance options later.
The Left and other regional parties also held a meeting earlier and
said the prime ministerial candidate would be decided after the
elections.
Bardhan later said the front will have adjustment on some seats with the BSP.
The Third Front was launched by the four Left parties and six regional parties in Karnataka Thursday.
PUNE: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati would address public
rallies in Nagpur and Mumbai on April 8, but will not come to Pune, BSP
state president Vilas Garud said on Sunday.
At a news conference organised to announce party’s strategy for the
parliamentary elections, Garud said: “Due to time constraints, Mayawati
will address rallies at Nagpur and Mumbai on the same day. She will not
be addressing rallies elsewhere in the state.”
Garud said that builder-turned-politician D S Kulkarni is the BSP
candidate for the Pune parliament constituency. However, the party
could not announce the names of its candidates from western
Maharashtra. “The party has decided to contest from all the 48 seats in
the state. The party is looking for some Maratha candidates. It will
also have candidates from tribal communities and other Aboriginal Inhabitants of Jambudvipa, that is, the Great Prabuddha Bharath castes.”
Garud criticised the major parties, saying that these parties encash
on anti-social activities like communal riots. “My party never fight
elections on hatred. As we are not involved in any regional issues, we
will not be a part of petty politics.”
India’s next prime minister being selected by the click of a mouse or the press of a cell phone
button! Though this is farce in actuality, gaming freaks can now look
forward to a series of games based on Indian politics and ‘help’ their
favourite politician win.
Hyderabad-based 7seas Technologies has launched five online political
games which have prominent Indian political leaders as main characters
vying for the prime minister’s post.
‘Given the enthusiasm that the Indian elections are generating
globally, we expect these online games to attract players of all age
groups,’ said L Maruthi Sanker, managing director of 7seas.
‘These fun-based games are for relaxation and creating political awareness,’ said Sanker.
‘The main objective of these games is to provide relief to the gamers
from their routine lives and at the same time create awareness among
them on the Indian political scenario,’ added Sanker. Prime Minister
Manmohan Singh, senior BJP leader L K Advani and Bahujan Samaj Party
chief Mayawati will be part of these games. X
Reservation is a Means of
Social Transformation
SYMPOSIUM
Venue: NGO BHAVAN, CubbonPark, Bangalore
Wednesday March 18, 2009 at
5:00 p.m.
Dear Sister/Brother Jaibheem
You are cordially invited to attend this
significant symposium with your friends and family
