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Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav slam Congress, but Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attends SP's public meeting in Raebareli

SP-BSP alliance has not fielded its candidates against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Raebareli and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.

Mayawati, Akhilesh Yadav slam Congress, but Priyanka Gandhi Vadra attends SP's public meeting in Raebareli

RAEBARELI: Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was on Thursday, seen campaigning for Samajwadi Party candidate in Uttar Pradesh's Unchahar in Rae Bareli. The public meeting had been organised by SP MLA Manoj Pandey. While addressing the gathering, Priyanka thanked the SP for supporting the Congress and helping in the fight against communal forces. 

The Samajwadi Party-Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) alliance has not fielded its candidates against UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi in Raebareli and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.

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The support comes just hours after BSP supremo Mayawati and SP chief Akhilesh trained guns at Congress for having a nexus with the Bharatiya Janata Party. 
 
"Both the parties (Congress and BJP) are internally united and contesting the elections here together. The Congress leaders are saying that they will not let the SP-BSP candidate win, even if a BJP candidate wins," Mayawati said. 

Akhilesh also said that Congress had always governed like the BJP. "They are both the same. If India is facing unemployment due to wrong policies of the Congress, the BJP has only taken those forward and made the situation even worse," he said.

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However, Priyanka said that it is a 'do or die' battle for the 2019 Lok Sabha election and her statement about some weak candidates of Congress was taken out of context. Clarifying her remark, she said that she would rather die than help the BJP."   
 
"I've said clearly Congress is fighting polls on its own strength. Our candidates are fighting strongly in most constituencies. I would rather die than benefit BJP. We've chosen candidates that are either fighting strongly or cutting BJP votes," she said. She also described BJP as Congress' main political rival, saying the ideologies of these two parties were poles apart.

She had earlier said, "My strategy is very clear. Congress will win on the seats where our candidates are strong. Where our candidates are slightly lightweight, they will cut into BJP's vote share."