UNI

New Delhi, June 28: The Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday once again ruled out any pre- or post-election alliance with other parties in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. BSP leader Mayawati was upbeat about its prospects of forming the next government in Lucknow.

Dismissing the speculation that UP elections would throw up a fractured mandate, she said at a press conference that the electorate would instead would give There area clear verdict in favour of the BSP. According to her, in UP the percentage of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backwards is 52 percent and 37 percent people belonged to the 'most backward' category. The demographic profile of the State would work in her party's favour. However, in the same breath she rebuffed the suggestion that the BSP was a Dalit party.

She said her party had already decided to allocate tickets to all castes and communities. Mayawati said the party has started the process of identifying its candidates and was getting an encouraging response from the people in the run-up to the elections. On Punjab, she was categorical in dismissing the speculation that the BSP would a have a tie up with some Akali faction. "Our experience of electoral pacts has been bad and never yielded any results," she said.