Will Take Steps To Make West UP Separate State If Voted To Power At Centre: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Sunday said her party will take concrete steps to make western Uttar Pradesh a separate state if voted to power at the Centre.

The BSP chief said if free and fair elections are held and voting machines are not tampered with, the BJP will not return to power this time.

"In the last few years, with the BJP in power at the Centre and in most states, the progress of Muslims has stopped to a great extent. Violence in the name of religion has increased here," Mayawati said, adding that poor people of the general category have also not received any benefits under the BJP's rule.

The party has decided to go solo this time. The SP, Congress and the All India Trinamool Congress are contesting as part of the INDIA bloc and the BJP, Apna Dal (S), NISHAD party and the SBSP are part of the NDA alliance.

Uttar Pradesh has 80 Lok Sabha seats, the highest for any state in the country.