Last week, Mayawati announced an arrangement with Samajwadi Party for Rajya Sabha polls
Highlights
- Mayawati has put forward a give-and-take formula for Rajya Sabha polls
- She said Congress should help her in UP if they want her support in MP
- Polling for 58 Rajya Sabha seats, 10 from UP, to be held on March 23
Nearly a week after Mayawati offered a conditional arrangement for the upcoming Rajya Sabha elections, the Congress has decided to support her party candidate from Uttar Pradesh Bhimrao Ambedkar.
"We have decided to join hands with the secular forces against the oppressive and communal politics and decided to vote for the BSP candidate," said Congress legislature party leader Ajay Singh Lallu, according to the Press Trust of India.
Last week, Ms Mayawati had put forward a give-and-take formula, saying that the Congress lawmakers in Uttar Pradesh should vote for the BSP if they want her party's support for the Congress candidate in Madhya Pradesh.
"If the Congress wants to ensure an easy win for its candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls in Madhya Pradesh, the seven Congress MLAs (in UP) should cast their vote (for the BSP in Rajya Sabha polls) after showing them to the BSP agent," the BSP chief had said.
Polling for 58 Rajya Sabha seats, including 10 from Uttar Pradesh, will be held on March 23. Members are elected through a system of indirect voting, by elected members of state legislatures.
Ms Mayawati had admitted to an arrangement of "vote transfer" between BSP and SP lawmakers for the upcoming polls to the Rajya Sabha and the Uttar Pradesh legislative council but refused to call it an "electoral alliance".
In Uttar Pradesh, a candidate needs 37 votes to get to the Rajya Sabha. With 19 members in the assembly, BSP still falls short of 18. Through her conditional offers, Mayawati is eyeing seven votes of the Congress, 10 from the SP that has 47 members in the assembly and one from the RLD. SP has already declared Jaya Bachchan as its candidate.
The BJP and its allies that have 324 lawmakers in the assembly can send eight candidates quite comfortably. With a surplus of 28 votes, the BJP needs the support of four Independents and cross-voting to get its ninth candidate elected. So far, the BJP has announced one candidate -- Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
(With inputs from PTI)