Day after UP bypoll win, Akhilesh says SP has the best relationship with Mayawati

Once bitter rivals, SP and BSP set aside their differences and came together in a determined bid to defeat the BJP in the UP bypolls.

SP president Akhilesh Yadav said one should forget past differences amid speculations that his party will continue the alliance with foe-turned-friend Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday, a day after his party’s victory in the Lok Sabha by-elections in Uttar Pradesh’s Gorakhpur and Phulpur constituencies.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav with senior leaders Kiranmoy Nanda and Azam Khan addresses a press conference after the by-election results, at the party headquarters in Lucknow on Wednesday. (PTI)

The Samajwadi Party won the Lok Sabha seats vacated by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya in Gorakhpur and Phulpur respectively with the support of Mayawati’s party.

Once bitter rivals, the two parties set aside their differences and came together in a determined bid to defeat the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Yadav acknowledged the support of Mayawati -- and even called on her late on Wednesday evening in Lucknow.

“Some people incite to remind some past events, but if there is anyone who has the best relationship and conducts with her, it’s us,” Yadav said during an impromptus press conference at the party’s state headquarters on Thursday.

The incident had cropped up time and again after the BSP’s local units in Gorakhpur and Phulpur extended support to the SP candidates and Yadav’s declaration that his party will support one BSP candidate in the forthcoming Rajya Sabha polls.

“With the Congress, our relationship had always been good,” Akhilesh said talking about the grand old party.

The Congress lost both seats in UP, but party president Rahul Gandhi said that verdict reflected people’s anger against the BJP.

Yadav also said that had some EVMs not developed snags, then their victory margin would have been even larger.

The bypolls marked the return of Yadav to the centre stage of Uttar Pradesh politics a year after the devastating defeat in the state polls.