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Mayawati keeps her options open

Bahujan Samaj Party vice-president Mayawati today did not rule out the possibility of joining an alternative government at the Centre, saying the party would decide only after the new political formation takes "proper shape".

In a television interview, she said the BSP would also decide its policy vis-a-vis the Rashtriya Loktantrik Morcha (National Democratic Front), led by arch enemy Mulayam Singh Yadav, after a realignment of forces.

"Till that time we will keep our cards close to the chest, as we did in Parliament," she said.

The party has five members in the Lok Sabha, whose voting proved fatal for the A B Vajpayee government.

Mayawati justified voting against the confidence motion, saying the BSP wanted to teach the Bharatiya Janata Party a lesson for its deeds in Uttar Pradesh, where it had split her party using the office of assembly speaker.

She said the Uttar Pradesh government would also collapse soon and her party would emerge victorious in the next election in the state.

UNI

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