Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader Tejashwi Yadav congratulated Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati for forging an alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
In a joint press conference with the SP chief in Lucknow on Monday, Yadav said that “we are ready to take 120 seats of UP and Bihar from BJP that is why I wanted to personally congratulate Mayawati-ji and Akhilesh-ji”.
“I congratulate Mayawati-ji and Akhilesh-ji for forging this alliance in national interest. It was necessary in light of the situation in the country right now. Those who were slaves of British are in power right now,” he said.
The former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister also diplomatically handled a question on SP-BSP’s decision of leaving Congress out of the pact.
“SP and BSP are enough to beat Modi-ji. The by-elections are also an indication of it. You can also read Rahul-ji’s statement. He has said ‘BJP is not going to get seats here’. Who is in alliance is not important,” he added.
Yadav’s RJD is an ally of the Congress mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in Bihar as well as the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) on a national level.
The 29-year-old RJD leader had met Mayawati on Sunday in the state capital and extended birthday wishes to the BSP chief in advance.
He said the SP-BSP alliance, announced by the two former UP Chief Ministers on Saturday, was something that his father, RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, had talked about.
“Now in UP and Bihar, consider the BJP wiped out. With this alliance in the two big states, the BJP is automatically 100 seats down,” Yadav claimed.
He also attacked the Prime Minister saying that Lalu Yadav is in jail because Modi sees him as a threat.
“CBI and ED are no longer agencies; they have now become alliance partners of BJP. Lalu-ji is in jail only because Modi-ji saw him as a threat,” he said.
Slamming the BJP government at the Centre and in alliance with Janata Dal (United) in Bihar, Yadav said, “Be it labourers, farmers, or people of any caste or religion – everyone is unhappy with the BJP.”
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi promised special status to Bihar but then reneged on his promise,” Yadav said.
Drawing attention to the rising cases of lynchings, mob violence and communal incidents, Yadav said that no one can be a bigger casteist than BJP and RSS.
On Saturday, the SP and the BSP made official their alliance in Lucknow. Addressing a joint press conference for the first time, Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav also revealed their seat-sharing plan while rejecting the Congress.
Mayawati said that an alliance with the grand old party has not been electorally beneficial to either BSP or SP. She also equated the policies of the Congress to that of the BJP.