Senior Samajwadi Party leader Ramgopal Yadav today refused to comment on the possibility of an alliance with the BSP for the next Lok Sabha elections in 2019, saying "just wait and watch".
Talking to reporters outside Parliament, Yadav said that the victory of the SP in both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bye-elections was a referendum against the Yogi government.
"Me and my party are grateful to the BSP and its workers who worked hard to ensure the victory of the SP candidate in these by-polls. As far as 2019 general elections is concerned, just wait and watch. And hope for the best," Yadav said.
Most of the SP MPs in the House were today seen wearing the party's traditional red cap.
Speaking in the well of the Lok Sabha, SP MP Dharmender Yadav attacked the Gorakhpur DM for allegedly delaying the announcement of the initial trends of counting.
The SP today wrested both the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats from BJP, which had won them in 2014 general election.
BSP, the SP's arch-rival, had extended support to the Akhilesh Yadav-led party in these bypolls
The victory on these two seats assumes significance as Gorakhpur was won by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while Phulpur was won by Keshav Prasad Maurya, who is currently the deputy chief minister of the state, in the 2014 elections.
Both Yogi and Maurya resigned from their respective Lok Sabha seats after they were appointed as leader and deputy leader of the BJP government in the state last year.
Akhilesh Yadav meets Mayawati
In a yet another significant development, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav met BSP Suremo Mayawati at her residence at Mall Avenue in Lucknow. Though party sources said that it was a courtesy call, some suggest that both also spoke about extending their alliance to 2019 Lok Sabha polls and including other non-BJP parties, including the Congress and the RLD, to pose a formidable challenge to the BJP. The meeting lasted for half an hour. The BSP General Secretary Satish Chandra Mishra and SP General Secretary Azam Khan were also present in the meeting.
