Seeking to drive a wedge into their anti-BJP alliance, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Monday said BSP supremo Mayawati would be "ditched" by SP chief Akhilesh Yadav after May 23, the day of the Lok Sabha poll results, "and then, only the BJP will support her".
"The Samajwadi Party has never given due honour to Dalits. In 1995, when Mayawati was attacked at the State Guest House here by SP leaders on the directions of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the BJP had saved her. Now, his (Mulayam's) son Akhilesh will dump her after May 23 and the BJP will support her," Maurya told PTI in an interview at his residence here.
"Whenever Mayawati is in crisis, the BJP supports her and will continue to do so in the future too," he said.
Asserting that the BJP is pro-Dalits, Maurya said, "At Kumbh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi washed the feet of sanitary workers to give them due honour. Our party leaders are always there for Dalits."
On the Congress's prospects in the upcoming general election, he said irrespective of the tall claims of the opposition party, its strength would be reduced further after the polls, adding, "The BJP is going to form the government under the leadership of Modi again, with Uttar Pradesh giving it 74 plus seats."
The state accounts for the highest number of 80 Lok Sabha seats in the country.
Maurya's statement came a day after he had targeted Mayawati on her remark at a Deoband rally, where she had asked the Muslim voters not to split their votes.
"Her statement clearly indicates that she has only used Dalits as a vote bank and has not respected them. She has started hating them after their tilt towards the BJP after the saffron party empowered them. She has now appealed to the Muslims to vote for her but the community knows the reality of the SP-BSP-RLD alliance," Maurya had said.
The deputy chief minister, however, did not say anything about it on Monday.
Asked about the SP's poll promises, Maurya said, "(SP chief) Akhilesh (Yadav) is not loyal to his father Mulayam and uncle Shivpal. How can he be loyal to Mayawatiji, whom he calls 'bua'? He should not be trusted by her (Mayawati). He was taught a lesson in 2017 (UP Assembly polls) by the people of the state and once again, he will get a reply from the people."
On the achievements of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in the last over two years, the deputy chief minister claimed that law and order had improved, due to which the state was attracting investments and people could go anywhere "fearlessly".
"The 'jungle raj' of the previous SP government ended immediately after the BJP came to power. Criminals, who were ruling the roost, are now behind bars or have left the state for good," he said, exuding confidence that the state would once again give the maximum number of seats to the saffron party in the upcoming polls.
Terming the SP-BSP-RLD pre-poll alliance as "opportunistic", he said it would end automatically due to conflict of interests in the near future.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)