BSP will rather fight alone than beg for seats in alliance: Mayawati
New Delhi, Oct 9: BSP supremo Mayawati asserted Tuesday that her party will rather fight elections on its own than "beg" for seats in any alliance.
Her comments assume significance as she had last week called off talks with the Congress to fight the upcoming assembly polls in three states together as it did not agree to part with as many seats for the BSP as she demanded.
A Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) statement quoting her also lashed out at the Congress and the BJP, saying the BSP will never compromise with the self-respect of the Dalits, tribals, backwards, Muslims, other minorities and the upper castes' poor irrespective of the "malice and torture" of the governments run by these two parties.
That is why the BSP has put forth the condition of being given a "respectable number" of seats to enter into an electoral alliance, Mayawati said, according to the statement.
"What it clearly means that the BSP will not beg for seats in any alliance. If this (respectable number of seats) does not happen, then it will continue to fight polls on its own," she said.
Speaking on the occasion of the death anniversary of the BSP founder Kanshi Ram, she said neither the Congress nor the BJP works in the interests of the upper castes' poor and the remaining majority.
Mayawati, however, also added that her party will continue to strive to oust the Bharatiya Janata Party government, describing it as casteist, communal, arrogant, malicious and narrow-minded.
Amid protests by upper castes groups against the Narendra Modi government's decision to restore the original stringent provision of a law on atrocities against Dalits and tribals, she said her party never support misuse of any law.
The BSP had ensured that the law was not misused during its four terms in power in Uttar Pradesh, the statement said quoting her.
A likely alliance of BSP and Samajwadi Party bodes ill for the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, which elects 80 members of the Lok Sabha with the saffron party winning 71 of them in 2014.
The SP-BSP alliance has resulted in humiliating defeats for the BJP in three Lok Sabha seat bypolls. Experts are of the view that if the BSP fights on its own, then the BJP may again do very well in the state in 2019.
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Another North Goa nightclub sealed; Kejriwal says corruption led to fire tragedy
Panaji (PTI): As part of a crackdown against tourist establishments violating laws and safety norms in the aftermath of the Arpora fire tragedy, Goa authorities on Saturday sealed a renowned club at Vagator and revoked the fire department NOC of another club.
Cafe CO2 Goa, located on a cliff overlooking the Arabian Sea at Vagator beach in North Goa, was sealed. The move came two days after Goya Club, also in Vagator, was shut down for alleged violations of rules.
Elsewhere, campaigning for local body polls, AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the fire incident at Birch by Romeo Lane nightclub at Arpora, which claimed 25 lives on December 6, happened because the BJP government in the state was corrupt.
An inspection of Cafe CO2 Goa by a state government-appointed team revealed that the establishment, with a seating capacity of 250, did not possess a no-objection certificate (NOC) of the Fire and Emergency Services Department. The club, which sits atop Ozrant Cliff, also did not have structural stability, the team found.
The Fire and Emergency Services on Saturday also revoked the NOC issued to Diaz Pool Club and Bar at Anjuna as the fire extinguishers installed in the establishment were found to be inadequate, said divisional fire officer Shripad Gawas.
A notice was issued to Nitin Wadhwa, the partner of the club, he said in the order.
Campaigning at Chimbel village near Panaji in support of his party's Zilla Panchayat election candidate, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal said the nightclub fire at Arpora happened because of the "corruption of the Pramod Sawant-led state government."
"Why this fire incident happened? I read in the newspapers that the nightclub had no occupancy certificate, no building licence, no excise licence, no construction licence or trade licence. The entire club was illegal but still it was going on," he said.
"How could it go on? Couldn't Pramod Sawant or anyone else see it? I was told that hafta (bribe) was being paid," the former Delhi chief minister said.
A person can not work without bribing officials in the coastal state, Kejriwal said, alleging that officers, MLAs and even ministers are accepting bribes.
