UP Polls: "No Alliance With SP," Says: Bhim Army Chief Azad

Mr. Azad said that SP won't support Dalits

Lucknow: Ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Election Polls, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad said Saturday that his political outfit - the Azad Samaj Party - would not ally with the Samajwadi Party for next month's Uttar Pradesh Assembly election.

As the Bhim Army Chief told the reports, Samajwadi chief Akhilesh Yadav "does not want the support of Dalits."

A day after meeting the Samajwadi Party chief to discuss seat-sharing, Mr Azad also added that "Yesterday Akhileshji humiliated us... yesterday Akhileshji humiliated the Bahujan samaj."

"In the end, I felt Akhileshji doesn't want Dalit leaders in this alliance... he only wants Dalit votes. I feared that if Dalits vote for him and he forms the government, we won't be able to talk to him about our problems... if we're beaten, if our lands are stolen and our women raped, like Hathras."

In a report of NDTV, Samajwadi Chief Akhilesh Yadav offered the Azad Samaj Party three seats, but Chandrashekhar Azad was asking for 10 seats and a middle ground could not be established.

Mr Azad and Mr Yadav were understood to have a broad agreement in place to contest these polls together, with the Bhim Army chief likely to stand from his stronghold in Saharanpur.

Responding to SP Cheif, Mr Azad told NDTV, "Akhileshji told us a month ago that we will fight the election together. I was here for two days to discuss our joint fight. I wanted to join with Akhileshji to stop the BJP, but he doesn't want to give representation to the Dalits."

"I will decide on my next steps in two days... there might be a third front ready soon," he said.

In November, Mr Azad told NDTV that he had decided to contest the UP election against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath; "I will not let Yogi win, no matter what happens," he said.

"I will appeal to other opposition parties to also support me against Yogi... he has troubled the public for four-and-a-half years," Chandrashekhar Azad said, adding (then) that he wanted an alliance with Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party because "we don't want Bahujan votes to be divided".