The Bahujan Samaj Party of Mayawati and the Jana Sena Party led by actor-turned-politician Pawan Kalyan on Friday announced their alliance for the Lok Sabha election.
The BSP and JSP reached at a seat-sharing arrangement for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where the two parties will contest the polls together.
Announcing the poll-pact in Lucknow with the BSP chief by his side, Kalyan said his “wish and ardent desire” is to see Mayawati become the prime minister of the country after the Lok Sabha polls in April-May.
“We would like to see Mayawati as the prime minister of the country. This is our wish and ardent desire…We will make sure…that our wishes get fulfilled in the days to come,” said Kalyan addressing a press conference in the Uttar Pradesh capital.
This comes amid efforts by opposition parties to present a united front against the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the parliamentary polls. Mayawati is among the opposition leaders, who are said to be harbouring prime ministerial ambition.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and her counterpart in Andhra Pradesh N Chandrababu Naidu are the other two non-Congress opposition leaders in the reckoning for the top post if a non-BJP coalition emerges ahead in the Lok Sabha polls.
Mayawati, in the past, has dropped hints about her prime ministerial ambition. On her birthday, January 15, days after announcing BSP’s alliance with the arch-rival Samajwadi Party, Mayawati had asked her party cadres to “forget past differences and ensure victory” in the Lok Sabha polls.
“UP decides who will come to power at the Centre and who will be the prime minister,” Mayawati had said. Mayawati is seen as the most popular Dalit leader in national politics.
On Friday when Kalyan said that his party, JSP would work for making Mayawati the prime minister of the country in the national election, the BSP chief had a smile on her face and gave a slight nod of acknowledgement.
She returned the compliment saying “I want Pawan Kalyan to become Andhra Pradesh chief minister.”
Mayawati has been campaigning for a non-BJP non-Congress political front at the national level. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Naidu has been part of the campaign. Naidu’s Telugu Desam Party is seeking re-election in Andhra Pradesh, which goes to simultaneous assembly and parliamentary polls on April 11.
The BSP chief will travel to Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on April 3 and 4 to campaign for the BSP-JSP alliance. Kalyan’s JSP makes its debut in the upcoming elections and hopes to make a mark in the state that has been dominated by Naidu’s TDP and the Congress.
Kalyan is the younger brother of Chiranjeevi, the actor-turned-politician, who had floated the Praja Rajyam Party (PRP) ahead of 2009 Lok Sabha elections.
The PRP secured about 17 per cent vote in the polls. Chiranjeevi later merged his party in the Congress. Kalyan, however, aims to form government in Andhra Pradesh and hopes Mayawati’s appeal among Dalit voters may win his party a significant chunk of votes.
