'Doors of SP open to small parties for 22 polls'
Lucknow: Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said doors of his party are open to all small parties for an alliance ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls next year and he will try that all such political outfits come together to defeat the BJP.
He also asked the Congress and the BSP, which have been attacking the Samajwadi Party (SP) on various issues, which side they are on.
These parties should decide whether their fight is with the BJP or SP, Yadav told PTI.
On possible alliances for the upcoming state polls, the SP president said, "Doors of our party are open for all small parties. Many smaller parties are already with us. More will come with us."
In an interview to PTI, he also lashed out at the Centre over the Pegasus spying row.
"They (NDA) have over 350 seats in the Lok Sabha. The BJP is ruling in many states. Why and what was the government trying to find through snooping? They are helping 'videshitakatein' (foreign forces) with this act," Yadav said.
Asked about his uncle Shivpal Yadav's PragatisheelSamajwadi Party, which is also preparing to contest the polls on all seats, Yadav said, "We will try that all parties unite to defeat the BJP."
On BhagidariMorcha' led by Om Prakash Rajbhar's Suheldev Bhartiya Samaj Party (SBSP) in which AIMIM leader AssaduddinOwaisi also took part, he said, "There have been no talks with them till now."
The SP president also asked the other opposition parties, the Congress and the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP), to decide which side they were on.
"These parties should decide whom they are fighting, he said.
BSP chief Mayawati has often targeted the Samajwadi Party in her tweets. While accusing the BJP of using government machinery to ensure its victory in the recent panchayat polls, she had said these tricks were similar to the methods used by the previous SP government.
Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu has also attacked the SP and had said the party leaders' statements reflected frustration and disappointment as people have rejected them.
About caste conferences, including Brahmin Sammelans, organised by BSP and other parties, Akhilesh Yadav said SP also used to arrange such meetings.
"Our backward sammelans and other such meets are on. Before the start of the second (Covid) wave, the party had done three-day camps covering 150 assembly constituencies.
"The party will be taking out a yatra on August 5 on the birth anniversary of party ideologue Janeshwar Mishra. From August 15, more yatras will be taken out exposing the BJP misrule," he said.
