Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Saturday ruled out the possibility an alliance with Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, ANI reported. Azad accused Yadav of insulting the members of “Bahujan Samaj” or Dalit community.
“After all the discussions, in the end, I felt that Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank,” Azad said at a press conference. “He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj, I tried for 1 month 3 days but the alliance could not happen.”
Azad said that he had been meeting Yadav for six months, India Today reported.
“I had left the responsibility on him [Akhilesh Yadav],” Azad said. “He insulted me by not calling me. My people feared that our leader would also join the Samajwadi Party. Akhilesh ji does not need Dalits.”
But, Yadav had said that he had allotted two seats to Azad, according to ANI. “[...] but he [Azad] received some call and refused to be part of the alliance,” the Samajwadi Party chief said.
Over the last week, leaders from several political parties, including three Bharatiya Janata Party ministers from Uttar Pradesh Cabinet, have joined the Samajwadi Party.
Uttar Pradesh will go to polls on February 10. The seven-phase election will get over on March 7, and the results will be declared on March 10.
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