Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said the party will join an anti-BJP alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls even if it would require taking a few steps backward.
His statement came in response to a question about Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) president Mayawati virtually dictating terms on Sunday for her party to join any such alliance.
"We have to show them (BJP) the door..SP will enter into an alliance for ousting the BJP even if it means going a couple of steps backward," Yadav told reporters after the Vishkarma Jayanti programme at the party headquarters here.
"People of the country want change..the BJP is actually worried as it has betrayed the country, specially on the economic front..it has harmed the people in the name of GST and demonetisation...it has damaged the social fabric," he added.
Speaking at a press conference at her residence here on Sunday, Mayawati said the BSP is not against the anti-BJP alliance.
"But our stand is very clear. We will ally with a political party only if we get a respectable share of seats. Otherwise, our party feels it is better to contest the elections alone," she had said.
On the 2019 Lok Sabha elections and the upcoming Assembly elections in certain states, Mayawati said the effort of the opposition parties will be to stop the BJP from coming to power at any cost.
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