UP Assembly polls: Bhim Army Chief rules out alliance with SP, says Akhilesh Yadav only wants Dalit votes

`I tried for 1 month 3 days but the alliance could not happen,` Chandrashekhar Azad, Bhim Army Chief, said in a press conference.

New Delhi: Bhim Army Chief Chandrashekhar Azad on Saturday (January 15, 2022) ruled out an alliance with the Samajwadi Party for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Azad claimed that SP president Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance and just wants Dalit vote bank. 

"After all the discussions, in the end, I felt that Akhilesh Yadav does not want Dalits in this alliance, he just wants Dalit vote bank. He humiliated the people of Bahujan Samaj, I tried for 1 month 3 days but the alliance could not happen," Chandrashekhar Azad said in a press conference.

The SP, notably, is trying to extend its social alliance to add Dalits and most backward castes in UP by forming alliances with smaller caste-based parties and organising caste and community conferences.

Earlier, Akhilesh had also formed the Baba Saheb Vahini and had celebrated Dalit Diwali on BR Ambedkar's birth anniversary. 

This is noteworthy that Dalits in Uttar Pradesh are an influential caste group and their population is around 21.6 per cent, which includes 66 Dalit sub-castes. 

Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh are scheduled to be held in seven phases beginning February 10. The results will be announced on March 10.