New Delhi, Aug. 9: Dumped by Mayavati, Ajit Singh is weighing his options — again.

The Rashtriya Lok Dal leader had met the Uttar Pradesh chief minister in the capital through the efforts of mainly the CPI and the Telugu Desam Party, and decided to vote against the Manmohan Singh government on the nuclear deal.

He had hoped to ride on the Bahujan Samaj Party’s rising power and better his party’s Lok Sabha tally in 2009.

His hopes were dashed today after the BSP’s national convention in Lucknow today.

Mayavati, who sees herself as a future Prime Minister, wants most of north and central India for the BSP and said her party would contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.

“Chaudhary saab did his best but it seems Mayavati is overconfident,” complained an RLD leader.

Ajit had been engaged in hectic talks with allies, including the Left, following signals over the past few days that the BSP would not yield much. He had been conveying his wishes to Mayavati as well as rushing to meet leaders like CPI chief A.B. Bardhan.

Sources said Ajit — a former agriculture minister under the NDA and UPA regimes who had once tied up with the Samajwadi Party, too — expected a dozen seats in Uttar Pradesh for his RLD, which has three MPs, including himself.

After the BSP convention, RLD sources suggested it was time for their leader to move on, unless Mayavati’s allies intervened.

The Desam, which convinced Ajit to vote against the government on the nuclear deal, is hoping things would improve. “Every party announces seats and the same has been done by Mayavati,” said a senior leader. “We should not read too much into it.” Sources said the Desam was wary of rocking the boat when a third alternative was taking shape.

They said a meeting of allies would be decided upon after Mayavati concluded her programmes in the heartland and Desam chief N. Chandrababu Naidu his 120-day Andhra Pradesh “yatra” and returned to Hyderabad on August 16.