Modi hints doors open but Mamata, Mayawati rule out post-poll alliance

A day after Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi suggested that the doors were still open for post-poll alliances with parties such as the Trinamool Congress (TMC), the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, two of them vehemently ruled out any such possibility on Friday.

“As far as Narendra Modi is concerned, the doors are shut and the keys have been thrown away into the sea,” TMC spokesman Derek O’Brien said in Kolkata in reaction to Modi’s statement, made in the course of a television interview.

He also expressed confidence that the TMC would emerge as the third largest party in the new Lok Sabha when votes are counted on May 16.

O’Brien said TMC leader and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, AIADMK supremo and Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, BSP chief Mayawati and other regional leaders would have a major say in the formation of the next government at the centre.

He said the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) would fall far short of the magic number of 272 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha.

In Lucknow, Mayawati, a former chief minister of Uttar Pradesh, declared that her BSP would not support Modi or the BJP in the formation of a government at the centre. “Narendra Modi has said in his latest interview that if he does not get a majority in parliament, he could seek the support of Jayalalithaa, Mayawati and Mamata Banerjee. Even if the other parties do so, the BSP will not support Modi or the BJP,” she said.

She said Modi had reached out to the BSP during the election campaign with an eye on Muslim supporters, which showed that the BJP was not doing as well as it claimed and that there was no “Modi wave” in the country as portrayed in the media. In the run-up to the elections, Banerjee, Jayalalithaa and Mayawati were seen as potential allies of the BJP. When the campaign began, Modi spoke glowingly of Banerjee and Jayalalithaa, but as they kept their cards close to their chests and showed no signs of cosying up to the BJP, he started hitting out at them and they returned the favour in good measure.

• India