Mayawati to kick off BSP campaign in Kerala tomorrow

Kochi, Apr 17 (UNI) Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati will tomorrow begin a six-day campaign tour of Kerala where her party is contesting nearly three-fourths of the 140 Assembly seats in the coming polls.

Ms Mayawati, who arrives here tomorrow, will address campaign rallies in Thiruvananthapuram, Changanassery, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Kozhikode and Kasargode during her tour.

National secretary Suresh Mane said the BSP would contest on its own all 234 seats in Tamil Nadu, 19 in Pondicherry and 107 in Kerala.

He alleged that BSP candidates had been prevented by the Congress from filing nominations in several constituencies in Kerala. The party had sent petitions to the officials concerned and the State Election Commissioner in this regard and had also demanded security for party workers in Kasargode and Kannur districts.

He claimed that the party, which now had only a weak presence in the state, would make substantial inroads this election by raising issues like land and housing for the landless and poor, reservation for backward classes in private sector and self-financing educational institutions and reservation for Dalit Christians, among others.

The party did not have a manifesto for the election. 'There is no point in releasing a manifesto unless it is made binding on political parties. We will raise these issues forcefully without making meaningless declarations,' he said.

The BSP chief would begin her 6-day tour of Tamil Nadu from May 1.

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