The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (PSP) will contest together in the state assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, scheduled for early next year, SP chief and former UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav announced on Thursday.
Akhilesh Yadav confirmed the pact in a tweet after a meeting with his uncle and PSP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav.
“There was a meeting with the National President of PSP (Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party) and the matter of alliance was settled. The policy of taking regional parties along is continuously strengthening the SP and leading the SP and other allies to a historic victory,” the SP leader tweeted. However, no further details, particularly about seat sharing, were made public yet.
The announcement came after Akhilesh Yadav met Shivpal Singh Yadav in state capital Lucknow earlier in the day. The two leaders discussed the issue behind closed doors for close to 40 minutes, according to a report by news agency PTI. Several supporters of the party gathered outside the residence even as the meeting underway.
{{/usCountry}}The announcement came after Akhilesh Yadav met Shivpal Singh Yadav in state capital Lucknow earlier in the day. The two leaders discussed the issue behind closed doors for close to 40 minutes, according to a report by news agency PTI. Several supporters of the party gathered outside the residence even as the meeting underway.
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Earlier in November, Shivpal Yadav said that his party was ready for an alliance with the SP to stop the BJP from winning, but insisted that Akhilesh Yadav accepted his conditions for the pact, HT had previously reported.
Notably, Shivpal had previously asked for 100 seats from SP for the alliance. “Give me 100 seats and we will contest (elections) together,” he had said earlier, according to PTI.
“We want unity as it has power. Our priority is to form an alliance with the SP. There is little time (left for the elections). Whatever decision has to be taken should be taken soon. I am saying for the past two years that elections should be contested unitedly,” he added.
Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav, too, had expressed his willingness to forget the clashes with his uncle and for an alliance but had declined alliances with any large party, without naming the Congress and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party.
Shivpal Yadav had parted ways with the SP and formed his own political party in 2018 and also contested separately in the 2019 parliamentary elections in the country.