BSP-SP alliance unravels, both parties to fight assembly bypolls alone

The opposition gathbandhan' in Uttar Pradesh unravelled Tuesday with BSP chief Mayawati declaring her party will fight the assembly bypolls alone, prompting Akhilesh Yadav to say his SP too is ready to go solo.

The Bahujan Samaj Party chief, however, said the break is not permanent and she can work with the Samajwadi Party again if the SP president can "fulfil his duties".

Reacting to her statement, Yadav told reporters in Ghazipur, "If the alliance ends, we will field SP candidates on all 11 seats up for the bypolls after consulting party leaders soon."
"If I feel that the SP president is able to fulfil his duties and convert his people into missionaries, then we can still walk together in future. There has been no permanent break as of now."
UP BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said, "Right from day one we have been saying it's an opportunistic alliance forged to save their own families and hide acts of corruption."
Keshav Prasad Maurya, one of the two deputy chief ministers in UP, said, The gathbandhan was formed only to stop Prime Minister Modi from coming back to power. It has miserably failed. Its disintegration was certain."