SP-BSP ties till 2019, BJP's immoral win won't bite, says Mayawati: Updates

Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Saturday made it clear that her party's alliance with the Akhilesh Yadv-led Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh was here to stay, at least until the 2019 general elections. Taking a jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which recently trounced the SP-BSP alliance in the recent Rajya Sabha elections in the state, Mayawati said its "malpractices" would not weaken the newly formed alliance.

Earlier, the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) had cautioned Mayawati not to trust the 'oppurtunist' SP. The BSP chief responded by saying: "I would like to tell BJP and company that their malpractices will not succeed in breaking the ties between SP and BSP. Yesterday's results have not affected the SP-BSP tie up in any way, not even by an inch.".

The Rajya Sabha polls saw the BJP bagging a total of nine out of 10 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, while the BSP-backed SP won only one seat.

While eight out of the nine BJP candidates were assured to get through, the ninth seat was still in contention, with a BSP candidate being one of the frontrunners.

In the polls held on Friday, the BSP candidate Bhimrao Ambedkar lost despite the support of SP and Congress MLAs. The loss is being attributed to BSP's own MLA Anil Singh cross-voting to the BJP.

Reminding the BJP of their loss in the recent Uttar Pradesh bypolls, where the SP-BSP alliance defeated the BJP in Phulpur and Yogi Adityanath's backyard Gorakhpur, Mayawati launched an offensive rhetoric on the BJP, alleging them of "using the system" to make their candidate win.

"We view yesterday's result just like anyone else. We believe (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi and Amit Shah used the system to make their candidates win. An environment of fear was created due to which there was some cross-voting done," said the former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister.

Here are the top 10 developments on Uttar Pradesh Rajya Sabha results: 

1. BJP's 'immoral' win in Rajya Sabha will not affect SP-BSP tie: Mayawati on Saturday dubbed the BJP's victory for the 10th Rajya Sabha seat as 'immoral' and made it clear that the defeat will not affect its tie up with former archrival Samajwadi Paty.

"I would like to tell BJP that their malpractices will not succeed in breaking the ties between SP and BSP. The poll results of Rajya Sabha have not affected the SP-BSP tie up in any way. Not even by an inch," she told a press conference in Lucknow.

The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister also accused the BJP of using money, muscle power and state machinery to win the seat.

2. Mamata welcomes Mayawati's stand on SP-BSP tie up: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday welcomed Mayawati's statement that the BSP-SP understanding in Uttar Pradesh won't be affected by the Rajya Sabha poll results in the state.

3. 'SP-BSP alliance a complete failure': Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya on Saturday claimed that SP-BSP alliance has proved to be a "complete failure".

In an apparent reference to Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, he said "The one who could not be loyal to his father and uncle, can never be loyal to his 'bua' (aunt)."

4. Akhilesh cancels victory celebrations: The Samajwadi Party (SP) cancelled the victory celebration for its nominee Jaya Bachchan to be held in the state capital on  Saturday.

The move was an apparent signal of solidarity to the BSP whose lone candidate backed by it lost in the Rajya Sabha polls.

The BSP too has given indications that it remains positive about the new-found understanding between the two parties.

5.Mayawati defends Akhilesh over VIP guesthouse incident: Hours after BJP raked up the infamous VIP guesthouse incident, Mayawati defended Akhilesh Yadav and her party's ties with SP saying that Yadav was not active in politics during the incident.

6. VIP guesthouse incident: In June 1995, Mayawati was forced to spend hours in a  VIP guesthouse in Lucknow, fearing for her life, as alleged Samajwadi Party goons waited outside.

The incident took place a day after her party broke alliance with the SP.

After the guesthouse episode, she went on to form the government with the BJP’s help.

7. 'Will repeat 2014 victory in 2019': Speaking to reporters in Kanpur on Saturday, Maurya said that BJP will repeat the 2014 victory in 2019 and "Narendra Modi will become the prime minister again." 

"The Yogi Adityanath government (in Uttar Pradesh) has been trying to wash away the sins committed by the SP and BSP governments in the last 15 years," the deputy chief minister said.

8. BJP wins 9 Rajya Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh: The BJP on Friday secured victory on all nine Rajya Sabha seats that it contested in Uttar Pradesh. 

The BJP candidates, who were in the fray for the nine seats include Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, GVL Narasimha Rao, Harnath Yadav, Ashok Bajpai, Vijay Pal Singh Tomar, Kanta Kardam, Sakaldeep Rajbhar and Anil Aggarwal.

9. BJP hails victory: Expressing his happiness over the victory, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath thanked and congratulated the people of the state.

BJP state president Mahendra Nath Pandey also expressed his happiness over the win and said, "This is the victory of democracy and it is for the welfare of Uttar Pradesh."

10. Yogi calls SP 'opportunistic', cautions BSP: After BSP lost the Rajya Sabha poll, Adityanath cautioned the BSP saying that SP can only take from others but can't give. 

"The opportunistic face of SP has been once again exposed. It can take from others but can't give," Yogi said.

Without taking name of Mayawati, he said the election results are a "signal for some" and "they should be cautious".