`Ye unka badappan hai`: Mayawati responds to Amit Shah`s praise, raises speculations about post-poll tie-up

Lucknow: Amid the ongoing election for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly, former Chief Minister Mayawati and Union Home Minister Amit Shah have mutually praised each other, raising speculations over a possible post-poll tie-up.

Asked about Amit Shah's praise of her campaign during an interview, Mayawati said, “Yah unka badappan hai ki unhone sacchai ko sweekar kiya." However, she further added, “But I also want to tell him that in the three phases that have taken place in UP, the BSP has not only received Dalit and Muslim votes but we are also getting upper caste and backward caste votes."

Asked about the BJP's claim of winning over 300 seats, she said, "Only time will tell. Who knows, the BSP may become the winner, instead of the BJP and Samajwadi Party."

Attacking the Samajwadi Party, she said, "The voters of UP have already rejected the Samajwadi Party as they know that whenever that party has come to power, there has been goonda raj." Earlier Amit Shah had said in an interview that Mayawati's relevance was ‘not lost’. Shah further said that Mayawati's low key campaign did not mean that she has lost her core support base.