Congress made us wait for too long, will talk to Mayawati: Akhilesh Yadav on MP polls

Lucknow, Oct 6: Samajwadi Party president and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav Saturday said he would consult the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly elections, as he has "waited too long" for the Congress.

His comment comes days after BSP chief Mayawati announced that the party would not ally with the Congress, and would contest the Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan elections alone.

"We have waited too long for the Congress. How much longer should we wait? We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), with which we had an alliance, and the BSP for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh," Yadav was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

The Election Commission on Saturday announced poll dates for five states. Legislative elections in Madhya Pradesh will be held on November 28 and the counting will be held on December 11.

On Wednesday, Mayawati said that some Congress leaders were out to 'destroy' the BSP though its president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi favoured an alliance. She called the Congress "arrogant" with a "casteist and communal mindset", and said that people had not forgiven the Congress for their "corrupt government".

Yadav had earlier urged the Congress to bring all anti-BJP parties on one platform in the poll-bound states and implied that a delay in this regard might prompt other parties to declare their candidates for the upcoming assembly elections in both states.

PTI