BSP-SP alliance: Shivpal Singh Yadav says tie-up in Uttar Pradesh ‘incomplete’ without his party

Faizabad: Without my party, the SP-BSP alliance is incomplete in Uttar Pradesh, former minister and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party-Lohia (PSP-L) president Shivpal Singh Yadav said on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_3006762” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of Shivpal Singh Yadav. PTI[/caption] “This alliance is incomplete without PSP-L. Only a secular front can defeat the BJP,” said Yadav, who parted ways with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) in 2018. Akhilesh and Mayawati have agreed to fight on 38 Lok Sabha seats each in Uttar Pradesh where there are 80 seats at stake. They have decided to not field a candidate against Congress president Rahul Gandhi in Amethi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Raebareli. They have also kept two seats for smaller parties. During the announcement of seat sharing at a press conference in Lucknow on Saturday, BSP president Mayawati said that Shivpal Singh Yadav’s party is funded by the BJP as a part of an alleged conspiracy to divide (secular and social justice) votes. She had also said that the BJP could go to any extent to create differences among workers of SP and BSP. “To defeat the arrogance of BJP, it was necessary for BSP and SP to come together. BJP can go to any extent to create differences among our workers. We must be united and counter any such tactic of the BJP,” said Mayawati.