UP chief minister Mayawati on Sunday put up a brave front and said that by covering statues of the elephant and herself, the BSP had got a major advantage because dalits were now filled with anger at the decision and her cadres were “doubly determined” to vote the BSP back to power.
“The BSP has got free publicity through this incident and it has helped us. To get this kind of publicity, we would have had to spend crores of rupees which the EC has done for us free of charge,” she said and added: “Khula haathi lakh ka, band haathi sava lakh ka.”
Ms Mayawati said that she had not celebrated her birthday in her usual style because of EC compulsions but said that the biggest birthday gift for her would be returning to power after elections.
She released the list of candidates and an appeal to her voters that also listed the achievements of her government. She also released the seventh volume of A Travelogue of My Struggle-Ridden Life and the BSP Movement.
The BSP list of candidates for the Assembly polls includes 88 SC, 123 OBC, 85 Muslims and 117 upper caste candidates, including 74 Brahmins.