Have the best ties with Maya, says Akhilesh
LUCKNOW: Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday expressed his willingness to “forget the past” and mend bridges with Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), heightening speculations that the two parties will continue their alliance in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
“Some people try to remind us of past events, but if there is anyone who has the best ties with her (Mayawati), it is us,” the former CM said during a press meet at the party’s state headquarters.
The remark comes a day after his party’s victory in the Lok Sabha bypolls in UP’S Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies with the BSP’S help. The two parties, once bitter rivals, had set aside their differences to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). Yadav publicly acknowledged Mayawati’s support and even paid her a visit on Wednesday. “Samajwadis always give due respect to all, and that is why we have good relations with everybody today,” he said.
Yadav did not forget to praise other allies either. “Our relationship with the Congress has always been good,” he said. “Rahul Gandhi and I are both young, and together we will find a way to rid the country of the problems it is facing.” He however, refused to officially confirm the potential alliance with the BSP. “No one can say anything about the future,” he said.
BJP WILL GO TO LOK SABHA POLLS EARLY
Meanwhile, Mayawati, while speaking at an event in Chandigarh on Thursday, said the BJP will announce early LS polls in the wake of the bypoll results.
She said though both the BJP and the Congress were making claims of doing a lot for Dalits, in reality, the Centre was trying to stop reservations in jobs by promoting privatisation.
“The BSP will attract likeminded political parties to counter the Modi wave. We successfully supported the SP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies to defeat the BJP,” she said.
“The BJP and the RSS are spreading the Hindutva agenda and the situation in the country is worse than the emergency in 1975,” the former UP CM said.
She also accused the BJP of tampering with electronic voting machines (EVMS) in the 2014 Lok Sabha and 2017 assembly elections.