Delhi Assembly elections: Congress fought as BJP’s ‘B’ team, says Mayawati; hits back at Rahul Gandhi

BSP chief Mayawati. File
| Photo Credit: PTI

Hitting back at Rahul Gandhi for questioning her party’s present political approach, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati on Friday (February 21, 2025) accused the Congress of fighting the Delhi Assembly polls as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) ‘B’ team.

Her remarks came a day after the former Congress president said he was disappointed that the Mayawati-led BSP did not join the Opposition Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) in the Lok Sabha elections.

In a post on X, Ms. Mayawati said, “It is a common discussion that the Congress fought the Delhi Assembly General Elections as BJP’s B team this time, owing to which the BJP came to power there.”

“Otherwise, the Congress would not have been in such a bad condition in this election that this party could not even save the deposit of most of its candidates,” the former Chief Minister added.

She advised the Congress leader that before pointing fingers at others, he should definitely look into his own affairs. Ms. Mayawati also noted that the new BJP government in Delhi has the challenge of fulfilling all its poll promises. The two leaders were involved in a war of words on Thursday (February 20, 2025) as well after Mr. Gandhi’s utterances against Ms. Mayawati during his visit to Raebareli Lok Sabha constituency.

“I wanted Behenji to fight alongside us against the BJP, but for some reason, she did not. That was deeply disappointing. If all three parties had united, the BJP would never have won,” Mr. Gandhi had said while interacting with Dalit students in Raebareli.

The Congress and the Samajwadi Party had contested the 2024 polls together in Uttar Pradesh and succeeded in limiting the BJP’s advance in the most populous State winning 43 seats, including Faizabad Lok Sabha seat.