Akhilesh Yadav on 'Mahagathbandhan': 'Very soon it will be in front of you'

There will be a confluence of thoughts in Uttar Pradesh and very soon people will know about it, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav President Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday amid speculation over 'mahagathbandhan' of his party with Mayawati's BSP in run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav addresses a press conference at the party office in Lucknow. Photo: PTI

LUCKNOW: There will be a confluence of thoughts in Uttar Pradesh and very soon people will know about it, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav President Akhilesh Yadav said on Sunday amid speculation over 'mahagathbandhan' of his party with Mayawati's BSP in run up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. "In UP, there will be sangam (confluence) of people and sangam of thoughts, and very soon it will be in front of you," PTI quoted the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister as saying while talking to the media in Lucknow. The SP-BSP alliance had defeated the BJP in a slew of bypolls in the state earlier this year. The two parties are said to be working for an electoral tie-up in UP where BJP and its allies won 73 of the 80 seats in the last general elections. When asked whether the Congress will be a part of this confluence, Yadav said, "I said that there will be sangam of people and thoughts. All answers are included in this." In spite of helping the Congress form government in Madhya Pradesh, both Yadav and Mayawati have been staying away from the grand old party. Yadav didn't hide his displeasure over his lone Madhya Pradesh lawmaker not being included in Kamal Nath's cabinet. He had said by doing so, Congress "cleared the path for Uttar Pradesh". This statement hints at the likelihood of the Congress being kept out of the proposed "grand alliance" in UP. On the other hand, Mayawati, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo and a prospective partner in the 'Mahagathbandhan' has already given enough hints of acting tough on the Congress. While lending support to the Congress in Madhya Pradesh, Mayawati had said that she was helping it to form the government to keep BJP out.