2019 Lok Sabha election: Akhilesh and Mayawati announce alliance, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party to contest 38 seats each in Uttar Pradesh 

Akhilesh Yadav (L) and Mayawati. 

New Delhi: Akhilesh Yadav, the leader of the Samajwadi Party, and Mayawati, the leader of the Bahujan Samaj Party, announced their alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha election. They made the announcement jointly before the media in Lucknow, on Saturday.

The two leaders, while announcing the decision, said they would contest 38 seats each from the state, which sends 80 members to the Lok Sabha. The Congress has been kept out of the alliance.

On keeping the Congress out of the alliance, Mayawati in a mocking tone said, “We have left two seats … Amethi and Rae Bareli have been left for the Congress.” Amethi is Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s constituency and Rae Bareli is former Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s constituency. Both these constituencies are considered as the Nehru-Gandhi family’s pocket boroughs.

The BSP leader said both the BSP’s and the SP’s past experiences with the party was the reason why they left it out for the 2019 general election. She said, “Whether it is Congress or BJP, it’s the same thing … Past experience tells me that the Congress can’t transfer votes to us. Maybe it’s a conspiracy of the Congress to transfer votes to the BJP. We don’t gain from aligning with the Congress.”

Mayawati then went on to assail both the Congress and the BJP. She said, “Congress imposed declared Emergency (in 1975), today there is undeclared emergency by the BJP.” She said the alliance will now “give (BJP president) Amit Shah and Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi sleepless nights”.

Speaking on the alliance, Akhilesh Yadav said, “The BJP has made Uttar Pradesh only about caste … farmers are committing suicide in increasing numbers … people are being killed in encounters based on caste. This alliance will bring an end to atrocities.” 

Watch the full joint news conference of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati here:

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