Akhilesh meets Mamata, fuels speculation of a front

Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav on Friday met West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, fuelling speculation of a possible front against the BJP in the next Lok Sabha polls.

Yadav, who was here in connection with the state conference of the SP, met Banerjee at her residence here and said that his party stood behind her in the fight against "communal forces".

There is a need for all secular parties to unite against communal forces, the SP chief said.

Earlier in the day when he was asked whether the SP would form a joint front with the TMC, Yadav had said he meets Banerjee whenever he comes to the city.

Referring to the BJP's victory in the Uttar Pradesh civic polls, he said that the party had won where the elections were held using EVM but did not do well where polls were held by using ballot paper.

"I will ask the people to check that the BJP has bagged 46 per cent votes in places where elections were held using EVM and only 15 per cent votes where the polls were held through ballot paper," he said.

Yadav said that the BJP had won the UP assembly polls with two-third majority but in the civic polls it had failed to win in the same manner.

"But you (BJP) are telling the country that the entire state has been painted in the BJP's colour," he said, adding that the path adopted by the party will not be able to bring happiness among the people in the country.

PTI