Akhilesh stops short of saying alliance with BSP is over, confirms to go solo in by-polls


Lucknow, June 04: Shortly after Mayawati said that she is not keen on continuing the alliance with Samajwadi Party, Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday first refrained from reacting to it, but when the media pressed him questions, he said "I will reflect deeply on it."

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Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati earlie today said that her party would fight by-elections to 11 assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh alone. She, however, said that alliance with SP is intact for now. Mayawati minced no words and that the Samajwadi party (SP) was unable to hold on to even its core voter base. SP's base vote - the Yadav community- did not support the party in the Lok Sabha polls. She added that the alliance clearly did not benefit the BSP.

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"If the coalition has broken, I will reflect deeply on it and if the coalition is not there in the by-elections, then Samajwadi Party will prepare for the elections. SP will also fight on all 11 seats alone," Yadav said.

BSP to go solo in Assembly bypolls, alliance with SP intact for now

BSP supremo today said political compulsions have forced her to go solo in the assembly by-elections.

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A total of 11 assembly bypolls are due in UP after MLAs won the Lok Sabha polls.

In a veiled manner, Mayawati had said the SP must get its act together, failing which the alliance may end.

"It's not a permanent break. If we feel in future that SP Chief succeeds in his political work, we will again work together. But if he doesn't succeed, it will be good for us to work separately. So we have decided to fight the by-elections alone," Mayawati was quoted as saying.

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Yesterday, Mayawati hinted about not continuing the alliance with his party. When reporters sought his reaction on Mayawati's hint, Akhilesh said, "I have no idea about it."

The Bahujan Samaj Party had joined hands with Akhilesh Yadav's party to fight the recently-concluded Lok Sabha election to stop the BJP but failed to make any mark.

Why it may not be a bad outing for the BJP in UP after all

The BSP had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections on 38 seats of Uttar Pradesh in a pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal. The Samajwadi Party contested on 37 seats while RLD contested on three seats; two seats of Amethi and Raebareli were left for Congress.

BJP won 62 of 80 parliamentary seats in Lok Sabha elections, nine seats less than 2014, and its Apna Dal ally won two seats. The SP-BSP alliance's tally settled at 15. The vote share of both parties (combined) dropped from 42.2 per cent (2014) to 37.3 per cent. Both SP and BSP had expected that the vote shares put together will help them win big but they failed.