India: Congress kept out of UP alliance to correct poll arithmetic: Akhilesh Yadav

  • Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav has said that despite his “immense respect” for Congress President Rahul Gandhi, the grand old party was kept out of the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh to correct “poll arithmetic” in order to defeat the BJP.
  • Without ruling out the possibility of working with the Congress after polls, Akhilesh said he has good relations with the party and would be “happy” if the next prime minister was from his home state.
  • Asked if the SP was open to working with Congress after the polls, Akhilesh said, “We can’t answer it right now. We will answer it after the elections. All I can say is that the country wants a new prime minister and it will have one after polls”.
  • Akhilesh was speaking exclusively to PTI during his visit to the city for the 19 Jan 19 united opposition rally.
  • Left out of the SP-BSP pre-poll tie-up in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has announced that it would go it alone in all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state for the upcoming general election.
  • When asked whether keeping Congress out of the opposition alliance would dampen the prospects of opposition in the politically crucial state, Akhilesh said, “With this seat adjustment, we have further strengthened the opposition unity. We have kept two seats for Congress. Our relationship with Congress has always been good.”
  • Akhilesh, however, maintained that keeping Congress out of alliance and giving them just two seats will not have any impact on the opposition vote share in the polls.
  • Asked who is his first choice as PM – BSP chief Mayawati or Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee – Akhilesh remained non-committal and said efforts should be made to elect a new prime minister and some issues can be discussed after the polls.
  • Manwhile, the Bahujan Samaj Party and its rival-turned-ally in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi Party, are planning to launch an agitation as the state police has yet to lodge a first information report (FIR) against BJP MLA Sadhana Singh for making derogatory remarks against BSP chief Mayawati at a rally.
  • Sadhna Singh, the BJP MLA from Mughalsarai, had made the remarks on 19 Jan 19 at a rally whose video is freely available online and she apologised for her remarks the next day.

External Link: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/congress-kept-out-of-up-alliance-to-correct-poll-arithmetic-akhilesh-yadav/articleshow/67636648.cms

External Link: https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/remarks-against-mayawati-no-fir-against-bjp-mla-yet-bsp-sp-plan-to-launch-stir/articleshow/67647734.cms

22-Jan-2019