PM hits out at SP, BSP, says rivals coming together only to defeat BJP in LS

Prime Minister Narendra Modi Wednesday attacked the opposition SP and BSP, saying the parties that opposed each other were now forming an alliance just to take on the BJP.

The prime minister was addressing a public meeting here after launching projects worth Rs 2,980 crore.

"Rivals are coming together just to oppose us. Political rivals who did not even like to look at each other are now coming together just to oppose us," he said, without naming the two parties.

The prime minister mocked their bid to stitch an anti-BJP alliance, while recalling the 1995 state guest house incident in Lucknow in which Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati was targeted by Samajwadi Party workers.

Modi's attack came amid reports of the two parties agreeing to form an alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The prime minister said they are coming together because they are afraid of the country's watchman.

"They fear the chowkidar, which is why they want to throw me out of power," Modi said, citing alleged scams in sand and gravel mining in Uttar Pradesh when the SP and the BSP were separately in power.

Referring to the recent CBI raids in the state in connection with the alleged mining scams in that period, Modi said, "The investigating agencies are seeking an answer from them about their misdeeds and so they are conspiring against the chowkidar."