BSP issues ultimatum to Congress in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, threatens to withdraw support

We'll reconsider our decision to give outside support to Congress if our demands are not met, says the BSP in a statement.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), with whose support that Congress has formed governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, has issued a threat for the grand old party. Mayawati’s party has released a statement demanding that the newly-formed Congress-led governments in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan must withdraw the cases filed during ‘Bharat Bandh’ held on April 2, 2018.

The BSP has demanded that cases filed under SC/ST Act 1989 against those who participated in the Bharat Bandh must be withdrawn.

“We demand that cases filed during the ‘Bharat band’ held on 2 April 2018 for SC/ST Act 1989 in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh be withdrawn. If these demands are not met, we'll reconsider our decision to give outside support to Congress,” read the statement released by the BSP.

On April 2, several Dalit outfits had called a nation-wide protest alleging that the Supreme Court had diluted the SC/ST Act. At least 10 people had died while several others got injured during the Bharat Bandh protests.

The top court had, however, refused to review its order, saying that those agitating on the streets might not have even read the judgement. The Central government maintained that they were fully committed to protecting the interests of the backward communities.

On March 20, the top court had ruled that government servants should not be arrested without prior sanction and private citizens, too, should be arrested only after an inquiry under the law.

The fresh demand of the BSP may trigger trouble for the Congress party, which fell marginally short of securing majority in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan as the results of the Assembly elections were declared on December 11. The BSP came to the rescue of the Congress party by extending their support. The BSP said that the party had decided to support the Congress as it wanted to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) out of power.