Mayawati switches to Mulayam as prime target

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In an attempt to ensure a multi-cornered electoral battle in UP, BSP supremo Mayawati is set to launch a spirited campaign against Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.

The BSP, which is said to benefit from multi-cornered contests, feels that after having attacked the Congress so far, it is time to take on the SP, which appears to have emerged as a big threat to it.

Sources said Ms Maya-wati, who is soon to tour UP, is set to reel out the achievements of her government in contrast with Mr Mulayam Singh’s three stints as chief minister.

The apparent change regarding its main rival comes based on an internal assessment that suggests the SP has emerged as its top rival. This is in contrast to Congress being singled out so far as BSP’s number one foe, with Rahul Gandhi still launching spirited attack against Ms Mayawati.

Maya has her guns ready for Mulayam

The BSP’s decision to take on the Samajwadi Party, based on an internal assessment that Mulayam Singh’s party has emerged its top rival, is in contrast to Ms Mayawati having singled out the Congress so far as her number one foe. This, while Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi continues to launch spirited attacks against her.

While the BSP is hopeful that its dalit constituency remains largely intact, the party is wary that it could be losing the minority space with the Congress and SP making attempts to outbid each other on quotas for Muslims.

While the SP is said to have created a space for itself due to campaigns by its UP unit chief, Mr Akhilesh Yadav, the BSP hopes to revive the pre-2007 scare about Mr Mulayam Singh’s reign.

“From the law and order situation to power generation to all round development of villages, Ms Mayawati will remind the people what Mr Yadav did as chief minister and what she did in the last four-and-a-half years,” said a senior BSP functionary.

The BSP is also gearing up to take on the SP for claiming to have shunned candidates with criminal backgrounds while actually having fielded a large number of such people in the elections, the BSP functionary said.