Muslims erred in voting for SP which is complicit with BJP, says Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Tuesday claimed the Muslims made a "huge mistake" by voting for the Samajwadi Party, which she accused of being "complicit with the Bharatiya Janata Party in giving communal colour" to the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.

The BSP won just one seat in the recently-concluded election for the 403-member assembly.

In a tweet in Hindi on Tuesday, the BSP supremo said, "The internal complicity of the SP and BJP in Uttar Pradesh is widely known."

"They created an atmosphere of fear by making the assembly elections a Hindu-Muslim affair which especially misled the Muslim society and it made a huge mistake of voting unilaterally for the SP. This has to be rectified to defeat the BJP here."

Soon after the results, Mayawati had claimed the "fear of 'jungle raj' returning" in the state if the Samajwadi Party emerged victorious made BSP supporters shift to the BJP.

She had also alleged the media's "aggressive propaganda portraying the BSP as the 'B team of the BJP' drove Muslims and anti-BJP voters from it".

"This decision by the Muslims harmed the BSP. The party's supporters among the upper castes, backwards and other communities were fearful of 'jungle raj' returning to Uttar Pradesh if the SP comes to power. That is why these communities voted for the BJP," the BSP chief had said.