LUCKNOW: In a blow to Congress, Samajwadi Party (SP) national president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday dropped hints that his party might not ally with the INC in Uttar Pradesh in next year’s general elections.
The former UP Chief Minister lashed out at the Congress for not including its sole legislator in Madhya Pradesh in the cabinet despite its support in the formation of the government and attaining the majority mark.
“All the better. We thank the Congress for not making our MLA a minister in Madhya Pradesh,” Yadav said while talking to the media. “By doing so, the Congress had “cleared the path for the alliance in Uttar Pradesh. In time to come, the options are open as to who all will be included in the alliance.”
On the other hand, Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and a prospective partner in the “Maha Gathbandhan” has already given enough hints of acting tough on the Congress.
This statement from the 45-year-old leader is being seen as another indication of the growing space and disenchantment of the SP from the Congress and the likelihood of the Congress being kept out of the proposed “grand alliance” in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
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Miffed with the Congress, the BSP chief had, soon after extending support to the Congress in MP, said that people had with heavy heart voted for the Congress and that she was extending support only to keep the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at bay.
Akhilesh Yadav, meanwhile, also slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in the state and accused it of poor handling of the law and order in the state.
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Citing the mob violence in Bulandshahr, burning of a Dalit girl in Agra and crime in Gorakhpur, the former Chief Minister also targeted Governor Ram Naik indirectly by saying that in his government, the Raj Bhawan used to raise questions on the law and order scenario, while now he is hosting the government at the Raj Bhawan.
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He also welcomed the move of K. Chandrashekhar Rao, the Telangana Chief Minister and Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) for trying to stitch together a non-Congress, non-BJP front and said that they were scheduled to meet recently but this meeting could not happen as he was not available. He said he will soon go and meet Rao in Telangana and discuss the political scenario.
Yadav also congratulated the present government in Uttar Pradesh for deciding to install a 25-foot statue of the late Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and said that when SP comes to power it will follow suit.
With agency inputs