Mayawati announces 'Will contest 2022 UP & Uttarakhand polls solo'; refutes AIMIM alliance

Amid reports of an AIMIM-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, BSP Supremo Mayawati on Sunday, maintained that her party will fight polls alone in UP and Uttarakhand, while allying only with Akali Dal in Punjab. Appointing BSP MP Satish Chandra as Media Cell incharge, Mayawati urged to verify any such BSP alliances with him. Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Gujarat, Manipur, Goa and Himachal Pradesh is set to go to polls in 2022.

Mayawati: "Wil contest UP polls solo"

SAD-BSP alliance

Akali Dal and BSP formed an alliance for the 2022 Punjab Assembly elections, coming together after a gap of 25 years. Under the tie-up, the BSP will fight 20 of the 117 Assembly seats while the rest will be contested by the SAD, said Badal. BSP chief Mayawati dubbed the alliance between the SAD and her party as a "new political and social initiative" which will usher in progress and prosperity in Punjab, congratulating former CM Parkash Singh Badal over the phone. Punjab has 31.94 percent Dalit population, mainly concentrated in Jalandhar, Hoshiarpur, Nawanshahr and Kapurthala districts.

Meanwhile, in UP, BJP has stated it will fight polls under the leadership of incumbent CM Yogi Adityanath. As of date,  several fronts have cropped up to challenge the ruling BJP. While Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj is eyeing an alliance with AIMIM, Azad Samaj Party, Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party; parties like AAP, Shiv Sena, and JDU have announced that they will be contesting for the UP polls. Samajwadi Party and BSP have decided to not ally and shut their doors to Congres, opting to ally with smaller parties if needed or go solo. Since then, Congress has aggressively campaigned under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi in the state, eyeing its solo return. 

In 2017, polls were marked by tumultuous family fights in the Yadav family - with Akhilesh throwing out uncle Shivpal and replacing Mulayam Singh Yadav as the party chief. Later, the then-UP CM stitched an alliance with Congress - with Akhilesh and Rahul Gandhi holding joint rallies. This poll-alliance failed miserably, winning only 55 seats, while the BJP won 312 seats - ushering in Yogi Adityanath's maiden term.