Mayawati, who like many Indians uses only name, had plunged India's most politically crucial state into turmoil on Monday by offering to quit when she met governor Vishnu Kant Shastri.

Following Mayawati's offer of resignation, her coalition ally, India's ruling Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), announced it was withdrawing its support for her regional Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which champions the cause of India's lower castes.