The Bahujan Samaj Party will not contest the Uttar Pradesh district elections, Mayawati announced on Monday. She alleged that the elections will not be held in a transparent manner.

“We have decided not to contest Zilla panchayat elections in UP,” Mayawati said at a press conference. “I want to clarify if the elections would have been impartial, then we would have contested.”

The elections will be held on July 3. The results will be announced the same day. The panchayat polls are being considered as the semi-final for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections to be held in 2022.

The development comes amid a crisis in the BSP. The party performed poorly in the panchayat polls held in May and finished third, behind the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party.

Mayawati’s announcement came a day after she clarified that her party will contest next year’s Assembly polls alone, amid media reports of a tie-up with the All India Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen.