'If gathbandhan fails to get absolute majority, will sit in opposition and not join hands with Congress', says Mayawati in Chhattisgarh

Reiterating her stance that she will not join hands with Congress in the state of Chhattisgarh, former Uttar Pradesh CM Mayawati on Friday stated that she is ready to sit in opposition, and will not join hands with either Congress or BJP, if her gathbandhan with Ajit Jogi doesn't get the majority.

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Speaking at a rally in the state, the BSP chief said, “If our gathbandhan doesn't get the absolute majority, we will neither go with BJP nor with Congress. We will sit in the opposition.” 

Continuing her attack on the Congress party, Mayawati went onto state that they, along with BJP,  have failed to support the oppressed and lower caste.  

"The Congress party did nothing for the downtrodden and the lower caste people. But BJP is also not far behind. Both these parties go hand in hand where the poor and downtrodden are concerned," she added.

The BSP supremo isn't the only leader trading strong words against Rahul Gandhi and his party. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav criticized the Congress party at a rally in Chhattisgarh's Korba on Thursday, tossing doubt over a potential coalition of the parties ahead of the 2019 elections.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister was campaigning for the Gondwana Republic party, and along with his attack on Congress, hit out at the Narendra Modi-led NDA government over demonetisation.

"Money was deposited in banks during demonetisation. Who ran away with it after it was deposited in banks? So many people fled outside India", he said before alleging that both the BJP and the Congress were responsible for this. 

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"Both BJP and Congress are involved. There's no difference between the two. Jo BJP hai woh Congress hai, jo Congress hai woh BJP hai (BJP is what Congress is, Congress is what BJP is)," he added.

The recent development will come as a blow to the 'United Front', TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu has been meeting a number of leaders, including from this list to stitch together an anti-Modi front. He issued a news briefing alongside Sharad Pawar and NC patron Farooq Abdullah during his visit to Delhi last week, and shortly after that, met Congress president Rahul Gandhi, with the pair later announcing that they were joining forces in principle. Naidu will also meet with Deve Gowda