Alliance With BJP? Ajit Jogi Tweaks His Comment In Mayawati’s Presence
RAIPUR: Chhattisgarh politician Ajit Jogi’s “anything is possible” turned into a hard “Kadaapi nahi (absolutely not)” today when he was asked, in the presence of alliance partner Mayawati this time, about the possibility of teaming up with the BJP in the event of a fractured verdict.
“I said the opposite, I was misquoted,” Ajit Jogi, 72, told NDTV a day after his comments on The Countdown with Prannoy Roy and experts indicated he was not ruling out a tie-up with the BJP despite Mayawati’s aversion to the idea.
“I said that I know about myself and behenji (Mayawati) – we will prefer to sit in the opposition but not with the BJP. An English proverb was twisted. I had said in some other context, everything is possible in politics, which is correct,” he said, Mayawati sitting close by in an enclosure before their joint rally at Baktara near Raipur.
“But when they asked whether we would partner with BJP or Congress, I said neither. Our alliance is strong, we will form the government on our own.”
The two leaders were addressing a rally together in Chhattisgarh.
An alliance after the polls is a “hypothetical question” anyway, Mr Jogi said.
Mayawati seconded that. Ruling out any truck with either the Congress or the BJP, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) leader and former UP chief minister said: “We will prefer to sit in the opposition rather than go with them. One is Saanpnath and the other is Naagnath(both snakes).”
Yesterday, on repeated questioning about whether he would take support from the BJP to come to power in Chhattisgarh, where a close fight has been widely predicted, Mr Jogi had said: “In politics you can’t rule out anything. Anything can happen.”
On Mayawati, Mr Jogi had said, “I don’t think she would like… But we’re not talking to her, we are only working for our alliance and we are together. I’ve not talked to her in person about her equation with BJP or the Congress… That’s what I read in newspapers.”
Chhattisgarh is voting for a new 90-seat assembly in two rounds. The first phase was held in Maoist-dominated areas, the second round will take place on November 20. The results will be declared on December 11.
