Celebrating her 68th birthday, BSP supremo Mayawati on Monday said there is no question of her retiring from politics and that her party will go solo in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls.

She also slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) for their “communal” and “castiest” character.

Mayawati welcomed the Ram temple consecration ceremony on January 22, but she said she is yet to decide on her participation in the event even though she received an invitation to the same.

“I have received an invitation for the ‘pran pratishtha’ ceremony of Ram mandir, but I have not taken any decision to attend it because I am busy with my party work. We welcome the programme at Ayodhya on January 22. In future, if any such programme is organized regarding the mosque, we will welcome it also. Our party is secular, we respect all religions,” she told reporters here.

She said she had declared Akash Anand as her sole successor last month, and that there was speculation in media that I was going to retire from politics soon.

“I would like to tell you that there is no truth in these speculations. I will continue to work to strengthen the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) till my last breath,” she said.

The BSP chief also asserted that there will be no pre-poll alliance with any party in the 2024 elections.

“BSP gets less benefit from alliances and had suffered a loss in these alliances in the past. Our party suffers more losses due to rigging besides upper caste votes are not transferred to the BSP. Therefore, my party will not ally with anyone. Support can be given after the elections if proper participation is received. But this support will not be given for free,” she said categorically.

She also raised the issue of alleged rigging of electronic voting machines (EVMs). “Many voices were raised against EVMs but it went unheard. There should be fair elections in the country,” she added.

Mayawati also attacked the BJP government for “turning people into slaves by offering free ration”.

She said the Bahujan Samaj Party, on the other hand, had worked for all sections of the society in its four tenures in the northern state. “Public welfare schemes were run for minorities, Muslims, the poor, farmers and labourers. The present government is trying to make these schemes their own by changing their names and formats. However, due to casteism, this work is not being done.” she added.

The BSP chief said instead of employing the people, they are making themselves dependent by giving a little ration for free, whereas during the BSP government, the people were made dependent by providing jobs in government and non-government sectors.

She also targeted Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, alleging that he had changed colours like a chameleon to mislead the people of BSP regarding the opposition’s India alliance.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Akhilesh Yadav wished Mayawati on her birthday.