This is not a ''gathbandhan'' between the SP and the BSP but a ''thagbandhan', Shivpal Yadav said

Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party (Lohia) chief Shivpal Yadav Tuesday termed the poll alliance between the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party a 'thagbandhan'', or a coalition of cheaters, and alleged that their chiefs are in the habit of betraying others.

"This is not a ''gathbandhan'' (alliance) between the SP and the BSP but a ''thagbandhan''," he said about the seat-sharing pact recently announced by the two parties for the Lok Sabha polls.

"While one ditched his father and uncle, the other did the same with her brother," Mr Yadav told reporters at his party office.

He was referring to Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who allegedly sidelined him and his brother Mulayam Singh Yadav, and Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati, who had once tied a ''rakhi'' on BJP leader Lalji Tandon.

Shivpal Yadav had formed the new party after complaining of being sidelined by nephew Akhilesh Yadav, when he took charge of the SP from party founder and father Mulayam Singh Yadav.

Shivpal Yadav said after the Lok Sabha polls his own party will hold the "master key", without which no government could be formed at the Centre.

"We will form an alliance with the secular parties, and the talks are on. You all will be told about it soon," he added.

"The PSPL is emerging as a force in the state and people are giving it support. Only our party can stand against the BJP," he claimed.

Former Rajya Sabha MP Mohammad Adeeb Tuesday joined the PSPL.

Mayawati had alleged recently that Shivpal Yadav's party is funded by the Bharatiya Janata Party. However, Akhilesh Yadav had avoided commenting on his uncle at that joint press conference with the BSP chief.

When asked about the EVM controversy, Shivpal Yadav said, "If a number of political parties are raising questions about it, ballot papers should again be used in elections."

Earlier, Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati reacted separately to a controversial press conference in London by a self-proclaimed cyber expert, who alleged that the 2014 Lok Sabha polls were rigged with the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs).

Mayawati suggested Tuesday that ballot papers should be used in the coming elections and Akhilesh Yadav too questioned the continuing use of the EVMs.