After posters of Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati together appeared in Lucknow and Gorakhpur following the success of their alliance in recent bypolls, Akhilesh Saturday showcased photographs of B R Ambedkar and Ram Manohar Lohia even as senior SP leaders said the alliance would now continue “for a long time”. Akhilesh was gifted the photographs by the party workers to congratulate him on the SP-BSP alliance. He then insisted that the photographs be made public as it would convey a “good message”. After the shock defeat in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls this week, the BJP and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath suffered another setback after Akhilesh announced that Dr Naval Kishore, son-in-law of UP cabinet minister and former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, had joined the SP. At the press conference announcing Kishore’s move, SP leader Azam Khan said the alliance with the BSP would continue. “People say how can the SP and BSP come together. They are just critics, who not like the alliance for some reasons. There are many things people do not like, but even after that, they have to accept it. This alliance will continue for a long time,” he said. “Some people said the alliance would not last as we think differently. Basically, this is wrong. I might have some personality as an ideal, other parties might have some else as an ideal. I might celebrate Eid and others might celebrate Holi or Diwali. But the best person is one who celebrates all and he should be proud of it,” he said. Former chief minister Akhilesh chose to target Yogi Adityanath on development. “Forget the political benefits and other things, there is one big positive thing after the election results. I have seen recently and was told that now the UP CM is talking about development. He is talking about Standup India and Digital India. I am feeling good about this,” he said.
