BackMayawati against FDI, expects early polls
Says the BSP will consider backing FDI in retail only if it would be beneficial for farmers
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New Delhi: In another indication that political parties are readying for an early general election, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati launched a campaign in Uttar Pradesh highlighting the lack of development and deteriorating law and order in the state.
Urging Dalits and other backward communities—both groups represent a sizable number of voters—to unite against rival parties, the BSP chief indicated the possibility of an early general election.
“There are full chances of an early Lok Sabha polls. But before that a lot of states will go to polls," Mayawati told a rally in Lucknow, the state capital, on Tuesday. “We take a pledge that our party will work day and night on its principles and give good results."
The Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government at the Centre is banking on her party for support for its recent reforms initiatives, including allowing foreign direct investment (FDI) in supermarket chains.
The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the BSP will consider backing the controversial policy only it will be beneficial for farmers and the common man. “Our party will not support it as of now," Mayawati told the gathering.
Mayawati’s hedging on its stand on foreign investment reflects the “contradictions" in the state politics, according to Badri Narayan, political analyst and professor in G.B. Pant Social Science Institute in Allahabad.
“First of all, no party is sure about whether the FDI is good for people. The UPA government has failed to communicate properly to its partners as well as to the people on the issue of FDI," Narayaan said. “For Mayawati, her stand has to be taken cautiously because the Samajwadi Party has joined hands with the Trinamool Congress and opposed it publicly."
It was her first rally after the BSP’s humiliating defeat in the state election eight months ago.
Mayawati said the state, under present chief minister Akhilesh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party, has become a goonda raj (ruled by criminals) and the chief minister was a “CM of only announcements without implementing of any of his promises".
Narayan said Mayawati’s speech was a symbolic beginning to the election campaign ahead of the next general election in 2014. “The BSP has begun its preparation," he said.
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