The SP-BSP poll alliance in UP unravelled on Tuesday, with BSP president Mayawati confirming that her party would fight the Assembly bypolls this year on its own, and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav responding that his party would take the same route.
In a statement issued a day after she met party leaders, Mayawati also blamed the SP’s core vote base — the “Yadav samaj” — for the poll debacle and said that it “drifted away” from the alliance, even in the SP strongholds. Mayawati, however, kept the window open for the alliance and emphasised that her latest move did not signal a “permanent break” with the SP. Also, she did not directly criticise Akhilesh and said she received “a lot of respect” from the SP chief and his wife Dimple Yadav. She said she can work with the SP in future if Akhilesh fulfills “his political duties”.
Reacting to Mayawati’s statement, Akhilesh told reporters in Ghazipur: “Even if our paths are different, we welcome it. If the alliance…
