india

Updated: Jan 12, 2019 14:00 IST

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav while announcing an alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections also hinted at support for BSP president Mayawati as prime minister.

“You know who is my choice. Uttar Pradesh has given Prime Ministers in the past, we will be happy if the trend is repeated. Next PM will be from UP and it will be a new PM.,” he said when asked if he will support the BSP chief for PM post.

Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav Saturday announced their alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each out of the state’s 80 parliamentary constituencies.

The parties kept the Congress out of the alliance, but said they will not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. The alliance left two more seats for smaller allies.

Making the announcement at a joint press conference with SP president Akhilesh Yadav here, BSP chief Mayawati said that the alliance will rob Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah of their sleep.

She also said the alliance was a long term one and that the two parties would contest the next assembly elections together.

Expressing support for Mayawati, Akhilesh said , “I want to say to BJP that they should know that we (SP-BSP) are in this together. I am grateful to Mayawati for giving me equal status. They should know any insult to Mayawati is my insult,” said Akhilesh Yadav.