Declaring herself single,Maya woos Bihar

Asserting that there would be “no open or hidden” understanding with anyone,BSP chief and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati on Tuesday said her party would contest all the 243 seats in Bihar during the Assembly elections in October.

Launching her poll campaign soon after the BJP concluded its national executive meeting in the state,Mayawati played the “sarvajan” (all sections) card,saying there was a need to forge unity between Bahujan samaj and other sections,including upper castes. The focus on upper castes is seen as driven by the fact that this section is disenchanted with the Nitish Kumar government over bataidari laws and its “ultra-Dalit” focus.

Mayawati blamed “wrong socio-economic policies of successive governments at the Centre” for the Naxal problem.