Mayawati, Mulayam May Share Stage After 2 Decades as SP-BSP Alliance Plans Joint Poll Rallies

Lucknow: It will be after a gap of more than two decades when BSP chief Mayawati will come together on a stage with SP founder and patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav. The two leaders are expected to address a joint rally in Mainpuri on April 19.

The SP, BSP along with RLD are going to hold 11 joint rallies from April 7 to May 10.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the first rally, which will be held in Deoband on April 7, will see the turnout from neighbouring districts of Saharanpur, Kairana, Bijnor and Muzaffarnagar. The second joint rally will be held on April 13 in Badaun while the third will be held in Agra on April 16.

The fourth joint rally will be held in Mainpuri, where along with SP chief Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and RLD chief Ajit Singh, Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav is also expected to attend. Mulayam will contest on an SP ticket from this seat.

As per sources, the joint rally by Mulayam and Mayawati has been planned to boost the cadres from both the parties and give out a message of brotherhood among the SP-BSP workers on the ground.

On Wednesday, Yadav had met Mayawati and discussed about their campaign with joint rallies during Navratra, which begins on April 6, the spokesperson said.

Speaking to reporters at the SP office here, Akhilesh Yadav said," We are declaring candidates separately on seats finalised by us (SP-BSP) and the first rally (with Mayawati) is planned during Navratra from West Uttar Pradesh."

When asked about the possibility of an alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh for the polls, he said, "It's too late now. We have finalised our seats."

The SP and BSP, which announced an alliance in January, will field 37 and 38 seats respectively. The RLD, which is also a part of the alliance, will fight from three seats.

On the BJP's claim of winning more than 73 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the Yadav said, "They must be giving this number (of seats) from the entire country."

The SP leader said the alliance between his party, the BSP and the RLD was "an alliance of ideologies and people of the state will certainly ensure its success by giving support to its candidates."