New Delhi: The Samajwadi Party on Friday kept alive hopes of a grand anti-BJP alliance before Uttar Pradesh Assmebly polls with chief minister Akhilesh Yadav not ruling out a poll pact with the Congress.
Mr Yadav said such a combine could win over 300 seats in the 403-member House. SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had only last month ruled out any pre-poll alliance and asserted that there can only be mergers.
The UP CM, however, said that such a tie-up would only be considered if the Congress was willing to contest fewer seats, adding that such an alliance would not work out if they kept thinking about “profit and loss”. “It (UP polls) is a big battle. If the ally is good, then we can sort out other parties,” he said, while vehemently ruling out any alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party. He said that any alliance with BSP was impossible as the party had formed a government with BJP thrice and Mayawati routinely tied rakhis to BJP leaders. He attacked Mayawati, who had recently mocked him for calling her bua (aunt), saying her problem was that there was no way BSP would come into power. He added that he would no longer call her bua.
Akhilesh took potshots at SP leader Amar Singh and when asked if Mr Singh was a contender for the CM’s post, he said, “It is a big dream.” On a question about whether he wanted to sack Amar Singh from the party, he said, “If I had been state president of the party, I would have made a proposal and sent to neta ji (Mulayam).”
Akhilesh was the state president before he was replaced by uncle Shivpal Yadav. He, however, asserted that the murky infighting that put his uncle against him is behind him and he, “like Arjun is focusing on one goal, which is to form government in the state again”.
To a question on if he wanted to form his own party, he said, “In politics, you should sack those from the party who want to sack you. This is our party.”
Responding to BJP’s barb that demonetisation had harmed SP as the alleged illicit money kept by it for the polls is no longer useful, he said the decision would help his party as leaders and workers of other parties would also be forced to use the cycle — SP’s election symbol.
