BJP will face 'real challenge' in 2019 if Mamata, Mayawati, Sasikala unite: Swamy

Subramanian Swamy. Photo: PTI (File)

NEW DELHI: Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy on Tuesday said his party the BJP will face a stiff challenge in 2019 Lok Sabha elections if West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee, BSP chief Mayawati and former AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala join hands ahead of the polls. "If Mamata Mayavati and Sasikala combine we in BJP will have real challenge in 2019 (sic)," Swamy said on Twitter.

If Mamata Mayavati and Sasikala combine we in BJP will have real challenge in 2019

— Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) July 10, 2018

A known critic of the saffron party, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee has been at the forefront in the opposition's bid to form a united front against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA for 2019 elections. Mayawati, on the other hand, formed an alliance with arch-rival Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh and vowed to oust the saffron party from power in the Centre. Sasikala is serving a four-year prison term a disproportionate assets case at the Parappana Agrahara jail in Bengaluru. Sasikala, the close aide and shadow of Jayalalithaa for almost three decades, was locked in a power struggle for the top post with then acting Chief Minister O Panneerselvam.