The Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati has a standard operating procedure for press conferences.
Highlights
- Polls for 11 Rajya Sabha seats on Saturday, Kapil Sibal running from UP
- A candidate needs 34 votes for UP Rajya Sabha seat, Congress has 29 MLAs
- Congress' Sibal hoping for support from Mayawati, she has 12 extra votes
She did it in the Uttarakhand floor test recently. Will Mayawati come to the rescue of the Congress again in Uttar Pradesh, where elections will be held for 11 Rajya Sabha seats on Saturday?
The Bahujan Samaj Party chief has a standard operating procedure for press conferences. She reads from prepared drafts and leaves without taking questions. On Thursday though, she not just agreed to answer a question, she also offered a broad hint.
"Who we will support, who we won't, you will get to know after the results. In Uttar Pradesh, the Samajwadi Party and BJP are together on the inside. There are many issues where they have come together," Ms Mayawati alleged.
Those words will be music to the ears of the Congress, whose Kapil Sibal needs help to win a Rajya Sabha seat from UP. Ms Mayawati has votes to spare after her two candidates have safely been elected to the Upper House of Parliament.
"Mayawati's words are most encouraging. Her 12 lawmakers will come in handy. We have also been promised support by Ajit Singh's RLD. The BJP will see itself deflated on Saturday," said the Congress' Pramod Tiwari.
The BJP mixed up the math in what would otherwise have been a simple process - 11 candidates for 11 seats. It has supported a 12th, Independent candidate Preeti Mahapatra, forcing a contest, which impacts Mr Sibal the most.
Each candidate in UP now needs 34 votes to be elected on Saturday - members of the legislative assembly vote in the election. The Congress has 29 lawmakers. At a dinner hosted by the state Congress for Mr Sibal, only 23 showed up.
Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal has eight lawmakers, but their first choice vote will go to the ruling Samajwadi Party, which has fielded seven candidates and can push through six, but needs help for the seventh.
The BJP has enough votes for its candidate Shiv Pratap Shukla, but Ms Mahapatra will need 27 non-BJP votes to win a seat. That is more than all Independents and smaller parties put together in UP. BJP sources said cross voting by members of other parties is a possibility, but 27 is stretch.
Thus, they admit, ensuring the defeat of Kapil Sibal could be difficult. But the party will not fall short on trying.