A Samajwadi Party MLA on Monday voiced his dissent over the recently-forged alliance with Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) saying that it will only work till party president "Akhilesh Yadav keeps kneeling before Mayawati."
Once arch-rivals SP and BSP announced on Saturday their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each and keeping the Congress out of the alliance.
Hariom Yadav, SP MLA from Sirsaganj in Firozabad district, is apparently unhappy with what he claims is Mayawati's dominance in the alliance.
"SP-BSP alliance will not work in Firozabad. It won't be successful here. This alliance will work only till the 'adhyakshji' (Akhilesh) follows what the 'Behenji' says and he keeps kneeling before her," Yadav said.
Mayawati and Akhilesh addressed a joint press conference in Lucknow on Saturday to announce the alliance and seat sharing. While both parties will contest 38 seats each, they will also not field candidates in Amethi and Raebareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
They also left two seats out of the 80 in the state for smaller allies, without naming them. But there have been talks with Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Congress has announced that it will contest all 80 seats on its own.
In 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha. BJP ally Apna Dal bagged two. The SP won five seats and the Congress two, while the BSP drew a blank.
