New Delhi:
The stage is set for the biggest alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections as Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati are scheduled to announce the tie-up in Lucknow today. The announcement is set to take place at Taj Hotel in Lucknow’s Gomti Nagar at around 12 pm. The walls of many buildings in Lucknow are plastered with posters of both leaders. This would be the first time in 26 years that both parties will fight the elections jointly. Last time, it happened in 1993, when Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party founder Kanshi Ram came together.
Catch all live updates here:
Varanasi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) & Samajwadi Party (SP) party workers celebrate after BSP Chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav announce to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections together. pic.twitter.com/j27dEbd3m9
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 12, 2019
"Want to thank Mayawatiji for accepting this coalition. We have decided to join hands to wipe out the BJP from UP," says Akhilesh Yadav.
Mayawati: Amethi aur Rae Bareli ki Lok Sabha seats Congress ke saath gathbandhan kiye bina hi party ke liye chhod di hain, taaki BJP ke log Congress party ke adhyaksh ko yahin uljha kar na rakh saken https://t.co/XAjlmN9vrK
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
Both BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav didn't take RLD's name during their joint press conference.
The BSP-SP alliance will defeat the BJP in Uttar Pradesh, says Akhilesh Yadav.
To defeat the arrogance of the BJP, it was necessary for the BSP and the SP to come together. The BJP can go to any extent to create differences in our workers, we must be united and counter any such tactic: Akhilesh Yadav.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee welcomes the alliance of the SP and the BSP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.
"In 1993, the then BSP chief Kanshi Ram and Mulayam Singh Yadav contested together and won the UP polls. The BSP is determined to follow in the footsteps of Dr BR Ambedkar and give the same results this time," says Mayawati.
Moreover, we won't gain anything by including Congress in our alliance. Both BSP and SP have experienced in the past that Congress's vote is not transferrable: BSP chief Mayawati.
Seat sharing formula in Uttar Pradesh: SP: 38 and BSP: 38.
Mayawati: BSP will contest on 38 seats, SP on 38 seats. Two Lok Sabha seats we have left for other parties and Amethi and Rae Bareli have been left for Congress. pic.twitter.com/lsdCdxKNah
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
BSP Chief Mayawati: Ye Pradhanmantri Modi ji ki or BJP ke national president Amit Shah, in dono Guru-chele ki neend udane wali press conference hai. pic.twitter.com/0r9VPL4bYW
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
BSP chief Mayawati takes a dig at Shivpal Yadav during a joint press conference.
SP and BSP to contest on 38 seats each in Uttar Pradesh, announces Mayawati.
BSP and SP to contest 2019 Lok Sabha Elections together, announces Mayawati.
BSP Chief Mayawati: We(BSP-SP) have decided to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections together, this will lead to a new political revolution in the country. pic.twitter.com/eZcEf5Fq0f
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
BSP chief Mayawati attacks Congress in joint press conference.
BSP Chief Mayawati: Be it BJP or Congress, whoever rules, their policies are mostly the same. For example, we are seeing how both indulged in corruption in defence deals. Congress imposed declared emergency, today there is undeclared emergency pic.twitter.com/aynTqWBpY9
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
BSP-SP have decided to contest upcoming Lok Sabha elections together, this will lead to a new political revolution in the country: Mayawati.
This press conference will rob PM Modi, Amit Shah of their sleep, says Mayawati.
BSP chief Mayawati attacks PM Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah, terms them 'Guru-Chela'.
BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow.
#WATCH: BSP Chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party Chief Akhilesh Yadav address a joint press briefing in Lucknow https://t.co/tVzUqZAclX
— ANI (@ANI) January 12, 2019
BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav arrive at Hotel Taj.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati leaves for Hotel Taj.
BSP chief Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav to announce poll alliance shortly in Lucknow.
Akhilesh Yadav leaves for the venue
Samajwadi Party chief has left for Hotel Taj, which is located in Lucknow's Gomati Nagar. This is the same place where Yadav had announced alliance with the Congress in 2017.
‘Mile Mulayam Kanshiram, hawa mein ud gaye Jai Shri Ram’
In 1993, when Mulayam Singh Yadav and BSP founder Kanshiram came together, they defied BJP’s ‘Mandir politics’ This slogan was coined by Khadim Abbas,a journalist who later entered active politics.
Why exactly Congress didn’t negotiate that hard?
Congress leaders like PL Punia, who delivered Chhattisgarh to the Congress as its state in-charge, and UPCC chief Raj Babbar are reportedly of the view that the party should seek its pound of flesh in any alliance. They cite the example of 2009 when the Congress romped home with 22 Lok Sabha seats in UP, surprising many. They also say that with party chief Rahul Gandhi getting more "combative? against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress now stands a better chance than before.
The Formula
Sources said the SP and the BSP are planning to contest on 37 seats each out of the 80 on offer in Uttar Pradesh and plan to leave just two, Rae Bareli and Amethi, the bastions of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, for the Congress.
Boon for RLD
Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh on Friday confirmed that he would be part of the alliance. Other smaller parties the Nishad Party are also likely to be part of the alliance, but were not mentioned in the announcement on the press conference.
Congress to go solo?
In Lucknow, a Congress spokesperson said the party is ready to fight the Lok Sabha alone.
Fear for both Congress and BJP
At a meeting in Kannauj, Akhilesh Yadav had said that," Our coming together has not only created fear in the BJP but also in the Congress."
SP-BSP posters and party flags seen in Lucknow
SP-BSP posters and party flags seen in Lucknow. Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati will jointly address the media later today pic.twitter.com/bfxRUVMJcx
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 12, 2019
