The escalating war of words between the old foes in Uttar Pradesh politics — the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party — accusing each other as ‘B team’ of the BJP has left their voters confused. Interestingly, both the parties which had contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election together against the BJP, are at each other’s throat for consolidating the anti-BJP vote in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.

The Samajwadi Party, a constituent of the opposition INDIA block, is opposed to the entry of the BSP in the alliance. Officially, the BSP has announced to maintain equidistance from NDA and INDIA. BSP chief Mayawati is keen on being part of the alliance to salvage her political base. The SP has been against the BSP’s entry into the INDIA bloc and has even threatened to quit the opposition alliance if the Mayawati-led party was included in it.

SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said, “There is no scope for the BSP in the INDIA bloc. She (Mayawati) has announced that her party will contest all 80 seats in the state.”

In a post on X in Hindi, the BSP chief had said on Sunday that SP chief Akhilesh Yadav should check his “tainted reputation”. She also alleged that he had strengthened the BJP and reconciled with them.

“Who can forget the blessings that then SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav gave to the BJP before and after it won the 2019 Lok Sabha elections?” she pointed out. Mayawati’s remarks came a day after Akhilesh hit out at the BSP in Ballia after being asked if the BSP would join the INDIA bloc.

The SP and BSP, during the last three decades, has had a history of love-hate relationship. For the first time in 1993, the two parties had contested the UP Assembly elections in alliance. However, in June 1995, the alliance ended on a bitter note. The two parties again joined hands ahead of 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in UP, the BSP won 10 seats and SP 5, while the BJP bagged 62 seats.

Even as the Lok Sabha elections are a few months away, both the SP and BSP are busy mudslinging, quoting from the past incidents to accuse each other.

“The BSP has never taken on either the Narendra Modi-led government at the Centre or the Yogi Adityanath government in UP over any policy. Her (Mayawati’s) remarks come across as suggestions to the BJP on how to improve their working,” Chaudhary said, adding: “In recent elections, the BSP has adopted a strategy to help the BJP and ensure the defeat of the opposition.”

He said that in the 2022 assembly polls, the BSP had fielded over 100 Muslim candidates, which resulted in the split of SP votes, thus helping the BJP indirectly. The SP leader said in the bypoll to Azamgarh Lok Sabha seat in June 2022, BSP candidate Shah Alam alias Guddu Jamali had cut into the SP’s votes to ensure the victory of the BJP.

Elaborating on the alleged BJP-BSP nexus, another SP leader pointed out how the BSP suspended Amroha MP Danish Ali over his verbal volleys against the BJP in Parliament.

“In May last year, when over 20 Opposition parties had boycotted the inauguration of the new Parliament building, the BSP chief had welcomed it,” he pointed out.

However, the BSP rejected the allegations. BSP UP president Vishwanath Pal questioned Akhilesh and Maulayam’s attendance at Adityanath’s swearing-in ceremony in 2017.

The BSP leader pointed out that ‘Behenji’ had never extended her support to the BJP. “It was the BJP that extended support to us, but we did not compromise on our ideology while running the government in alliance,” Pal said.