UP: Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati to hold 18 joint rallies ahead of Lok Sabha elections

On Saturday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi who has been snubbed by Akhilesh and Mayawati in UP, announced that his party will fight the elections in the state with "full capacity".

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New Delhi: As they joined hands officially on Saturday, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, have already started strategising for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh. As per information received, the SP and BSP chiefs have decided to hold 18 joint-rallies ahead of the national polls. Meanwhile, an exchange of jibes has been going on ever since the alliance was announced. At one hand , Mayawati said that the alliance will disturb the repose of  PM Modi and party president Amit Shah both, while at the other, PM himself termed the ‘gathbandhan’ as “thugbandhan”. Addressing his party workers, Akhilesh Yadav said that any offense to Mayawati would mean an insult to himself. Prime Minister Modi dubbed the alliance as a “coalition of thugs”. At BJP’s national council in Ramlila Maidan, PM said that politics is done on ideologies and alliances are framed on the basis of vision, but this is the first time in history that all the political parties are uniting just for the purpose of defeating one person. On Saturday, Congress President Rahul Gandhi who has been snubbed by Akhilesh and Mayawati in UP, announced that his party will fight the elections in the state with "full capacity". While addressing a press conference in Dubai, Gandhi said he has a "tremendous respect" to the leaders of the two parties and "they have a right to do what they want to do". He further added “BSP and SP have made a political decision. It's on us on how to strengthen the Congress party in Uttar Pradesh and we will fight with our full capacity” Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati shook hands on Saturday, officially declaring their alliance in Uttar Pradesh, in the wake of forthcoming Lok Sabha elections in the country. The two made it official via a press conference, which took place in Lucknow’s Hotel Taj. The two also declared that they have also worked on the seat sharing formula on the same on January 4. As per the announcement made by Mayawati, of the 80 Lok Sabha seats, BSP is going  contest on 38 seats; whereas SP will be given 38 seats. Two seats have been left for smaller parties whereas; Rae Bareli and Amethi seats have been left for Congress as a customary practice.