Maya analysis — Cong, BJP foul play on minorities got SP majority

In her first pubic appearance after her party's debacle in the Assembly polls, BSP supremo Mayawati on Wednesday said Muslim votes almost got polarised in favour of SP because of the wrong stands taken by both the Congress and the BJP over the issue of sub-quota for Muslims within OBC quota.

As per her assessment, about 70 per cent of Muslim votes went to SP due to the minority reservation issue.

Earlier in the day, Mayawati submitted her resignation from the post of chief minister to Governor B L Joshi. "The poll results are not in favour of my party. So I submitted my resignation to the Governor, besides recommending the dissolution of the Assembly," Mayawati told reporters.

Explaining the reasons for her party's defeat, she said: "I hold both the Congress and the BJP responsible for the wrong stand taken by them in this election. Soon after declaration of Assembly polls in the state, the Congress talked about sub-quota for minority within the OBC quota for its political interest and the BJP started protesting it."

She said the BJP had made attempts to woo the OBC and upper caste voters under the cover of this issue for its own political gains. This led to the fear among the Muslim voters about the possible return of BJP to power, she added. She further said Muslims found Congress weak and the BJP created the impression that it might bag upper caste and OBC votes. "Apart from the Congress, they did not vote for us also and almost 70 per cent of them got sided with the SP candidates," she said. She also said SP's Muslims candidates bagged parts of upper castes and OBC votes and subsequently, got elected from the Muslim-dominated constituencies.

Another reason she cited was division of upper caste votes which, according to her, benefited the SP candidates. She said upper caste votes got divided — between BSP and, BJP and Congress. "My party has suffered a great loss," she said. She claimed her party's Dalit vote-bank remained the same in this election and this was some solace for her. "Despite the opposition parties' special focus on the Hindu and Muslim politics, BSP's Dalit votes remained fully intact. Dalits voted for the BSP candidates and thus they got second positions," she added.

... contd.

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