Mayawati slams Congress, threatens to go solo in MP

Lucknow, April 30 (IANS) Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati on Tuesday said that she would reconsider her party's support to the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh.

Mayawati's warning came after Lokendra Singh Rajput, the Samajwadi Party-BSP candidate in Guna in Madhya Pradesh, quit the BSP on Monday and came out in support of Congress candidate Jyotiraditya Scindia.

In visual clips posted on social media, Lokendra Singh Rajput was seen with Jyotiraditya Scindia, signalling his formal entry into the Congress.

"Young candidate Lokendra Singh, by joining the Congress, has given us his support. We welcome him to the Congress family," Scindia tweeted.

A furious Mayawati tweeted that she would reconsider her support to the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, which enjoys a slim majority.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, Mayawati said:
"The Congress has forcefully asked the BSP candidate from Guna to withdrew his candidature. The BSP will now give a befitting reply to this by contesting on its own symbol. We will also rethink our support to the Congress government in Madhya Pradesh."

"According to the reports received from Madhya Pradesh, the Congress is committing the heinous act of opposing the BSP instead of the BJP," Mayawati said.

The BSP supremo also said the Congress was conspiring to cripple the BSP in Madhya Pradesh by threatening or luring its people. "This shows Congress' double-standard for the BSP," she said.

"The Congress leaders in Uttar Pradesh are saying that the SP-BSP alliance should not win in the state, no matter even if the BJP wins," she said, adding that this showed the casteist, narrow-minded and two-faced character of the Congress.