After Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav dumps Congress in Madhya Pradesh

Three days after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati snubbed the Congress, Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday said he “waited for too long” for the Rahul Gandhi-led party to take a call on the alliance for the upcoming assembly election in Madhya Pradesh. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also hinted at yet another electoral alliance with Mayawati that resulted in a massive defeat for the BJP in by-polls in the state earlier this year.

"We have waited too long for the Congress. How much longer should we wait? We will now consult the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP), with which we had an alliance, and the BSP for the coming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh," Akhilesh was quoted as saying by PTI.

Meanwhile, reacting to Yadav's remark, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in New Delhi said it had not been planning an alliance with the SP in Madhya Pradesh in any case. He, however, added that there was a possibility of an alliance with the BSP in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

Early on Wednesday, urging the grand-old party to take a call on the seat-sharing process, Akhilesh had said, "After this, they (Congress) will be levelling allegations that they colluded with the BJP".

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Being annoyed Mayawati had on Wednesday announced that she would not contest the election in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan in an alliance with the Congress "at any cost". While Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi’s intention for the alliance were "honest", some leaders like Digvijaya Singh were “sabotaging” this, she said.

In what could be another set back for the Congress, the BSP chief had in September announced a tie-up for the Chhattisgarh polls with Ajit Jogi, who was expelled by the Congress in 2016 and is seen to have enough firepower to singe the party in a state it hoped to win after BJP's 15-year rule.

The SP and BSP, on the other hand, are in talks for a prospective alliance in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Meanwhile, the Election Commission of India, Saturday announced the dates for the Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and Mizoram Assembly polls. While Chhattisgarh will go to the polls in two phases on November 12 and 20, the Madhya Pradesh and Mizoram Assembly elections will be held on November 28.

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Polling in Rajasthan and Telangana will be held on December 7, announced Chief Election Commissioner (CEO) OP Rawat. Counting of votes will take place across all the five states on December 11.