'BSP-SP alliance won't last long': Ramdas Athawale asks Mayawati to join Modi-Shah

New Delhi, Jan 21: Union minister Ramdas Athawale has urged the BSP chief Mayawati to join hands with the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as tie-up with SP "will not give desired electoral gains".

"Mayawati became Uttar Pradesh chief minister thrice with BJP's support. The BSP cadre knows well that the alliance with the SP will not give desired electoral gains in the Lok Sabha polls. Instead of the SP, Mayawati should again join hands with the BJP," he said on Sunday, insisting that "internal contradictions" with Akhilesh Yadav's party will not let alliance last long.

"Reports from various parts of Uttar Pradesh suggest that SP and BSP supporters were unhappy with the tie-up," he added.

Reacting to the recent furore over BJP MLA Sadhna Singh's derogatory remarks on Mayawati, Athawale said that the BSP chief is a "strong lady" from the Dalit community, condemning the verbal attack on her.

During a public meeting on Saturday, Singh attacked the BSP supremo for joining hands with rival SP despite the humiliation faced by her at the hands of SP goons in the infamous 1995 Lucknow guest house incident.

Athawale further said the RPI has requested BJP president Amit Shah to allot it three Lok Sabha seats in UP, where the BJP won 71 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, to mobilise Dalits in support of the NDA. RPI is seen to have support among Dalits even as the BSP has a strong base within the community.