Akhilesh rules out alliance with Congress, BSP in next Uttar Pradesh assembly polls

Samajwadi Party (SP) President Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday categorically ruled out an alliance with the Congress or the BSP in the next assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, which are due in a little over a year's time.

Speaking to reporters in his home town of Etawah, Akhilesh said that his party, however, could consider aligning with smaller outfits in the elections.

''We will, under no circumstances, ally with bigger parties but there may be an alliance with smaller outfits...we are in talks with some such outfits,'' he said.

In an indication of a thaw in his relations with his estranged uncle Shivpal Singh Yadav, Akhilesh also said that the SP would leave the Jaswant Nagar assembly seat for Shivpal.

''Shivpal will also be made a cabinet minister if the SP comes to power after the next assembly polls,'' he added.

According to sources in the SP here, the party is likely to ally with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), which has pockets of influence in the western UP districts.

In reply to a question on the recently concluded assembly polls in Bihar, Akhilesh said that the Mahagathbandhan (RJD-Cong) was the victim of ''electoral malpractices''.

He expressed satisfaction over his party's performance in the recent assembly bypolls in the state and said that the SP was able to retain its seat.

The SP had contested the 2017 assembly polls in alliance with the Congress but could manage to win only 47 seats. The Congress, too, could win only seven seats.

Akhilesh's alliance with arch-rival and BSP supremo Mayawati in the state in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections also failed to click. The SP could win only five seats and the BSP managed to win 10 seats.