3 min readLucknowMar 5, 2023 06:43 AM IST
First published on: Mar 5, 2023 at 06:38 AM IST
A Samajwadi Party leader on Saturday said it would contest the 2024 Lok Sabha elections with its long-time ally Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and would not be tying up with any of the “bigger parties like Congress and BSP”. The remarks come two months after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati had announced that her party would go it alone in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Talking to mediapersons in Azamgarh on Saturday, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “SP, with the allies, will contest on all 80 seats in UP in the LS polls.”
“RLD would be the only party SP would be allying with for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. There will be no alliance with the Congress and BSP and any other big party in Lok Sabha polls,” SP national spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told The Sunday Express on Saturday. “The party leadership, like past elections, may later decide to leave seats like Rae Bareli and Amethi for the Congress but there will be no alliance with it,” he added.
SP has not yet confirmed its alliance with any of the regional parties that were a part of the umbrella alliance it had formed for the 2022 Assembly elections. Apart from the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD, SP had forged an alliance with regional parties like Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), Apna Dal (Kamerawadi) and Mahan Dal, among others. However, months after the results were announced, SBSP chief Om Prakash Rajbhar had announced that his party was severing ties with the SP-led alliance.
Talking about the possibility of an alliance with regional parties, the SP spokesperson said, “SBSP has already walked out of the alliance. The party national president will take the final decision to leave seats for any other party. But there will not be any other alliance. Only RLD will be our alliance partner. SP has decided to not forge an alliance with any big party – neither Congress nor BSP.”
Meanwhile, addressing media persons in Azamgarh district, Akhilesh slammed the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state over the demolition drives being launched in Prayagraj after the killing of Umesh Pal, the key witness in the 2005 Raju Pal murder case. “The country should not be run by bulldozers but by law and Constitution,” the SP leader said.
“To those who were saying that criminals will be crushed, I ask when will the list of top 10 mafias be released. This list is not being made public, fearing that BJP people might also be in it,” he added.
Referring to his party’s win in the Mainpuri Lok Sabha byelection held following the death of Mulayam Singh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party chief said, “The BJP has not been able to assess the reasons why they lost in Mainpuri. They lost badly because they do not have any answer to problems related to education, health, inflation, employment, law and order.”
— With PTI inputs
Talking to mediapersons in Azamgarh on Saturday, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said, “SP, with the allies, will contest on all 80 seats in UP in the LS polls.”
Share
