No Bihar experiment of grand alliance in UP to fight BJP:

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Aug 13 2014 | 6:16 PM IST
The Bihar experiment of rival parties coming together to take on BJP was ruled out in Uttar Pradesh today with BSP chief Mayawati firmly saying there is no question of joining hands with SP to fight Assembly polls.
Rejecting RJD Chief Lalu Prasad Yadav's suggestion that arch rivals BSP and SP should form a grand alliance in UP, Mayawati claimed that both SP and BJP have joined hands covertly. She said the BSP will contest the elections on its own.
"Whenever SP government comes to power, incidents of crime, communal violence, rape and dacoity, reach their peak. It is the character of this party and if incidents of this nature do not take place then this party will be finished," Mayawati told reporters.
"Therefore, keeping all these things in mind, there is no question of joining hands with SP and fighting elections together," she said.
Earlier in the day, SP Chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had suggested that if the RJD boss takes the initiative, he does not mind joining hands with BSP in UP.
"If Laluji takes initiative in this regard, I don't have any issues in joining hands," he told reporters when asked about Lalu Prasad's suggestion.
The RJD chief had recently suggested that the SP and BSP should come together to form a grand alliance to defeat the BJP in UP.
"Today people in UP are remembering the rule of BSP government and they want that Mayawati government should come back to power to restore the peace and harmony in the state.
"BSP will contest the elections on its own and I am confident that people of the state will help me come back to power in UP without taking any support. When we will come back to power, we will rein in the unlawful elements with a strong hand and put a full stop to the rape incidents," Mayawati said.
She blamed both SP and BJP for the communal violence in the state.
"Both SP and and BJP have joined hands covertly and therefore there is no question of joining any other party," she added.
Recently, after a gap of 23 years, arch-rivals Lalu Prasad Yadav and former Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar of JD(U) formed a political alliance in Bihar against the BJP.
Soon after the alliance in Bihar was formed, the RJD chief proposed that the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party should also join hands to take on the BJP, which won 73 out of 80 seats in UP in the Lok Sabha polls.
BSP and SP had contested polls together in 1993 Assembly elections in 1993 but soon parted ways.
After the alliance broke, Mulayam had termed it as a big political mistake for the SP to have joined hands with BSP.
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First Published: Aug 13 2014 | 6:16 PM IST

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