UP Dy CM Mocks SP-BSP Alliance, Calls It 'Lathabandhan'

Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma mocked the alliance of the SP and the BSP calling it "lathabandhan" (a tie-up to intimidate people), and saying the opposition in the state is finding itself politically unsafe and hence is in search of a scapegoat.

He said so far, Uttar Pradesh had the privilege of having the prime minister and the home minister as MP from the state, but now the finance minister too has joined the list.

In a photo-finish to the keenly watched Rajya Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP yesterday took a sweet revenge on the opposition by ensuring victory of all its nine candidates, days after it lost two crucial seats in the Lok Sabha bypolls in the state.

The remaining seat went to the Samajwadi Party in the polls marred by cross-voting from both the sides, which led to the defeat of the BSP candidate in the prestigious battle of ballots, touted as a test for the new-found bonhomie between the parties headed by Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

"In fact, the alliance of is not based on any principle except on 'Modi Hatao, BJP Hatao' (Remove Modi and BJP)," Sharma said, and claimed that the recent elections in the northeast states and the Rajya Sabha polls yesterday have shown that the opposition's dreams are not going to come true in the near future.