Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati has decided to assist her ally, the Bharatiya Janata Party, in the Gujarat assembly election. She would proceed to Gujarat for campaigning on Monday.

"I am doing so in response to a call from Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani," she said while addressing a press conference in Lucknow.

Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party is contesting 31 seats in Gujarat. But the UP chief minister said she would campaign for the BJP in several other constituencies.

In political circles, her move is seen as a major step towards establishment of closer political ties with the BJP.

Earlier, Mayawati and her mentor, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Kanshi Ram,  had insisted that they would join hands with the BJP only in Uttar Pradesh.