Mid-rung netas at work on joint rallies for Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav

New Delhi: Rivals-turned-allies Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party’s national president Akhilesh Yadav may hold joint rallies in Uttar Pradesh in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, two senior leaders of Samajwadi Party told ET.

Several Lok Sabha constituencies in UP could see such joint rallies by the two leaders, which will be preceded by joint public meetings by middle-rung leaders of both parties in various constituencies to ensure there’s cohesion among the ground-level workers during campaigning.

Mayawati will soon meet zonal in-charges of her party in Lucknow to send out this message. In the first indication of a joint effort, SP workers were seen holding protests in various parts of the state on Sunday against the offensive comments made by BJP MLA Sadhna Singh on Mayawati in Chandauli on Saturday. Yadav and his party also issued a strong statement condemning the remarks.

“We have an alliance now. Joint rallies of leaders of both parties, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, will be held,” Kiranmoy Nanda, national vice-president of SP, told ET. SP’s general Secretary Rajendra Chaudhary also confirmed the decision.

“Joint rallies of both leaders (Akhilesh and Mayawati) are planned. We are preparing for the same. Separate rallies will also be held by Akhilesh Yadav in every district,” Chaudhary said, adding that BSP and SP will distribute the Lok Sabha constituencies this month itself, and SP will also decide and announce its candidates by the end of January. “The campaign will then start from February,” Chaudhary told ET.

He also said there was “complete understanding” between SP and BSP on who will fight which seat. Mayawati and Yadav had announced a 38-38 seat deal between both parties on January 12.

“The understanding with RLD has also been achieved and Akhilesh Yadav will soon announce this,” Chaudhary said, pointing to a meeting held between RLD leader Jayant Chaudhary and Yadav in Lucknow last week.