(With inputs from PTI)

BSP chief Mayawati extends support to Congress in Madhya Pradesh

LUCKNOW: Giving Congress the much needed push to be able to form government in Madhya Pradesh , the BSP , with its two MLAs, has offered support to Rahul Gandhi's party to take it past the half-way mark of 115 seats.In a nail biting finish that went on till the wee hours of Wednesday, Congress emerged as the single largest party in the state with 114 seats, but remained two shy of the majority mark of 116.BSP supremo Mayawati , who said she would also consider supporting Congress in Rajasthan as well if such a need arose, emphatically stated that she had agreed to support Congress “only to keep BJP out of power” and that she was doing so despite having serious differences with Congress’s ideology and policies.Mayawati had refused to go along with Congress in a pre-poll alliance in MP, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, accusing the national party of being arrogant and not offering BSP “a respectable deal”.“Our party fought to keep BJP out of power but unfortunately did not succeed. In MP, the BJP is still trying to stake claim to form the government despite not getting the highest number of seats. Therefore, even though we do not agree with Congress’ ideology, we will support it to form government in MP only to keep BJP out of power,” Mayawati said.Explaining the reason for her half-hearted support, the BSP supremo said that people voted for Congress only because they were extremely upset with BJP.“Congress has been in power the longest since independence but did nothing for the upliftment of dalits, minorities and backward classes. This is why a party like BSP had to be formed,” she said.Mayawati, who managed to cobble together just 10 seats in three states, including six in Rajasthan, saw her vote share dip in both Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh . Calling on her cadre and supporters to strengthen the Bahujan Samaj movement, Mayawati said that her party would immediately start preparing for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.Shortly after Mayawati announced her support to the Congress, Samajwadi Party followed suit with its chief Akhilesh Yadav saying they are ready to back the party in Madhya Pradesh."The SP supports the Congress to form government in MP," Yadav tweeted in Hindi. SP has won one seat in the 230-member assembly.