Amid speculation that the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati would sever ties with the Samajwadi Party, the BSP supremo on Tuesday cleared that her party will contest the bypolls to 11 seats in Uttar Pradesh alone but that doesn’t mean ‘permanent break’ on its relationship with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party.
Mayawati said her relationship with Akhilesh Yadav isn’t only for politics. She was quoted as saying by news agency ANI, “Ever since SP-BSP coalition took place, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and his wife Dimple Yadav have given me a lot of respect. I also forgot all our differences in the interest of the nation and gave them respect. Our relation isn’t only for politics, it’ll continue forever.”
BSP Chief: Ever since SP-BSP coalition took place, SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav & his wife Dimple Yadav have given me a lot of respect. I also forgot all our differences in the interest of the nation, & gave them respect. Our relation isn’t only for politics, it’ll continue forever pic.twitter.com/JJcKjwApSA
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) June 4, 2019
ALSO READ: Strain between BJP, Nitish Kumar’s party visible: RJD
“However, we can’t ignore political compulsions. In the results of Lok Sabha elections in UP, base vote of Samajwadi Party, the ‘Yadav’ community, didn’t support the party. Even strong contenders of SP were defeated,” she added.
Meanwhile, commenting on Mayawati’s remark, Akhilesh Yadav said, “If the coalition has broken, I will reflect deeply on it & if the coalition isn’t there in the by-elections, then Samajwadi Party will prepare for the elections. SP will also fight on all 11 seats alone.”
SP Chief Akhilesh Yadav on SP-BSP coalition: If the coalition has broken, I will reflect deeply on it & if the coalition isn’t there in the by-elections, then Samajwadi Party will prepare for the elections. SP will also fight on all 11 seats alone @yadavakhilesh pic.twitter.com/wkdDmrHTMX
— NewsMobile (@NewsMobileIndia) June 4, 2019
The two local satraps of UP contested the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections in the state together in an effort to defeat the BJP, but they won only 15 of the 80 seats between them. The BJP won 62 seats.
The BSP chief also said that this break in the alliance was not a permanent one. “If we feel in future that SP chief succeeds in his political work, we’ll again work together. But if he doesn’t succeed, it’ll be good for us to work separately. So we’ve decided to fight the bye-elections alone.”