Ready to Give Two Seats to Congress in UP: Akhilesh Yadav

Yadav however went on to say seat sharing formula has not yet been reached and that he won’t comment on Congress.

File Image of Akhilesh Yadav.

(Photo: Reuters)

A day ahead of announcing an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav said that they are ready to give Congress “their two seats” in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming Lok Sabha election in an interview to NDTV on Friday, 11 January.

When asked if by “two seats” he means Amethi and Rae Bareli, Yadav said the the seat sharing formula has not yet been reached and that he won’t comment on Congress at the moment.

Speaking further on the SP-BSP alliance, Yadav said they have taken lessons from the BJP to get their electoral arithmetic right.

“The BJP allied with a number of parties in Uttar Pradesh in the 2014 election which resulted in them winning 73 seats in the state. We learnt from them and implemented the same strategy to win by-elections in UP,” Yadav said.

Elaborating on his party’s strategy, he said, “In Gorakhpur we got Nishad Party’s candidate to fight election on Samajwadi Party’s symbol. Similarly, in Kairana, Samajwadi Party candidate fought the election on RLD’s symbol and we pulled off wins in BJP’s strongholds”.

Asked whether people will accept the alliance between the SP and the BSP, he said the alliance is a result of people’s demand who want the BJP to lose. “In favour of the alliance even if I have to take a couple of steps back, I will do that. I have never thought which was the senior party or the junior one in this alliance. Countering the BJP's divisive politics was a bigger question,” he said.

Yadav and BSP chief Mayawati are expected to make an announcement on the alliance on Saturday, 12 January.