Lok Sabha Elections 2019: Mayawati, Mulayam Singh likely to hold joint rally in UP's Mainpuri today

Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav are slated to hold a joint rally in the latter’s home turf Mainpuri in Uttar Pradesh today. The two leaders will be sharing the dais after two decades.

SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Ajit Singh are also expected to take part in the rally, which could eventually turn into a show of strength against the BJP.

From April 7 to May 6, Akhilesh and Mayawati will hold 11 joint rallies, including one in Mainpuri, where Mulayam Singh Yadav is contesting polls.

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The first joint rally of SP-BSP-RLD will be held in Deoband (Saharanpur) on April 7, followed by rallies in Badaun, Agra, Mainpuri, Rampur, Firozabad, Kannauj, Faizabad, Azamgarh, Gorakhpur and Varanasi.

In Mainpuri, the SP has fielded Mulayam Singh Yadav, while Akhilesh Yadav's wife, Dimple Yadav, is contesting from Kannauj.

The allied SP-BSP will be contesting on 37 and 38 seats respectively, and its smaller ally the RLD will be fielding candidates in 3 constituencies in the states.

While the SP and BSP kept the Congress out of the alliance, they decided not to field any candidate on the Rae Bareli and Amethi seats – the two strongholds of the Congress in the state.

The Congress party in return announced that it will not contest on seven seats including Mainpuri and Kannauj from where Mulayam Singh Yadav and Dimple Yadav are expected to contest.

SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav had created a flutter in the Lok Sabha last month when he said he wished to see Narendra Modi back as prime minister, a sentiment that the PM had acknowledged with folded hands.

And pointing to Modi, the SP founder had added he wished the BJP leader too to come back as the prime minister. His remarks had drawn applause from the treasury benches.