Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav to address press conference today, alliance announcement expected
Lucknow, Jan 12 (IBNS): Amid speculation that the two parties, considered as rivals in the political scenario of Uttar Pradesh, are going to formally announce a grand alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati are going to jointly address a press conference in Lucknow on Saturday.
Akhilesh Yadav on Friday gave a hint that the Congress might be kept out of their alliance.
He said they are ready to give two seats to the Congress in the state.
"We can give the Congress two seats in Uttar Pradesh they have always held," the former Uttar Pradesh CM told NDTV.
"I don't want to say anything about the Congress because first we need to resolve the alliance of Samajwadi Party and BSP," he said.
It is believed that if the grand alliance between the two UP-based parties is formed then they are not going to field candidates in the state's Amethi and Raebareli seats.
While Congress president Rahul Gandhi represents the Amethi seat, his mother Sonia Gandhi is holding Raebareli for several terms.
"Whether the Congress is with us or not is difficult to say at this point," Yadav told the news channel.
Speaking on the importance of forming alliance, Yadav said: "How did Samajwadi Party win Gorakhpur, which was (Chief Minister) Yogi Adityanath's seat? We understood the ground realities and joined hands with the Nishad party. In Kairana, we worked with the Rashtriya Lok Dal."
Yadav was referring to the by-polls victories in recent times.
In 2018, SP and BSP had joined hands to successfully contest in three by-polls.
However, in the state assembly polls, SP and Congress alliance had failed miserably in 2017.
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