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BSP not to contest civic body polls on party symbol

Special Correspondent

Party workers can fight on free symbols

LUCKNOW: Placing its bets on the bigger goal of winning the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections due early next year, the Bahujan Samaj Party has decided not to contest the upcoming local bodies elections on party symbol. However, as part of a strategy, BSP workers have been permitted to contest the three-tier local bodies polls on free symbols allotted by the State Election Commission.

"The BSP's priority is the Vidhan Sabha elections," declared the party president, Mayawati, on Saturday. She announced that her party would go it alone in next year's Assembly polls and will not bother to forge an electoral alliance with any party. "The party's target is to get an absolute majority so that the government lasts its full five-year term."

Ms. Mayawati flew down to Lucknow where she held a meeting with party MLAs, MLCs and State unit office-bearers on the strategy to be adopted for the local bodies and Assembly elections.

Unveiling her strategy to newspersons, the BSP supremo said the decision on the local bodies polls was guided by the fact that the Vidhan Sabha polls would be held three or four months after the civic elections. In these circumstances it was not worthwhile to contest the civic elections. Moreover, it would ensure that the party's prospects in the Assembly elections don't suffer a dent, Ms. Mayawati added.

She said the BSP had contested the October-November 2000 local bodies elections on party symbol and experience had shown that several party men who were denied nomination entered the fray either as independent or rebel candidates. She said it took almost a year to set things right and since the last Assembly elections were held in February 2002 time was on her side. Ms. Mayawati stated that if the local bodies polls were held as scheduled in October-November 2005 the BSP would have contested on its symbol.

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BSP not to contest civic body polls on party symbol

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