Mayawati meets Akhilesh, discuss exit polls projections

Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav met in Lucknow on Monday after exit polls indicated gains for their alliance in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh.

Yadav, who had formed a coalition with the BSP and the Rashtriya Lok Dal to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party, drove to the residence of Mayawati and the closed door talks lasted for almost an hour.

Mayawati appeared to be opting for a wait-and watch-policy till the Lok Sabha election results are announced on May 23.

"The future course of action will be decided only after the final results are announced. Till then, she (Mayawati) will be staying put in the state capital," a party source said, requesting anonymity.

Different exit polls have suggested that the SP-BSP-RLD alliance is all set to dent the Bharatiya Janata Party's 2014 tally in Uttar Pradesh, though it might not be able to throw a spanner in the formation of an NDA government at the Centre.

Insiders in both the parties, however, were not ready to accept the projections that gave the BJP over 300 seats to form the government with a comfortable margin.

"We (SP-BSP-RLD) should get nothing less than 55 seats as the alliance has done exceedingly well. We expect around 60 (out of 80) seats. We not agree with exit poll projections," another source said.

On Saturday, Telugu Desam Party president Chandrababu Naidu had met both Yadav and Mayawati in the UP capital separately to discuss possibility of non-BJP parties coming together in the event of a fractured verdict.

As part of the alliance agreement, the BSP had contested 38 seats and the SP 37 seats leaving 3 for a smaller RLD while deciding not to field any candidate in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the stronghold of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress president Rahul Gandhi respectively.

Meanwhile, with most of the BSP leaders preferring to remain in their respective districts after hectic electioneering, there was not much activity in the party camp here.

"The party leaders will come to the state capital only after May 23. They have been asked to stay in their respective districts and oversee the counting process," a party leader said.

Roads outside the BSP office and Mayawati's residence reflected the caution with which the party is treading.

Aiming to check the return of NDA at the Centre, Mayawati had opted to sink decades-long differences to enter into an alliance with the SP for the Lok Sabha election.

In the 2014 general election, the BJP had won 71 seats, ally Apna Dal bagged 2, the Samajwadi Party 5 and the Congress 2, while the BSP drew a blank.

The BJP's impressive show in Uttar Pradesh helped the BJP to pull off a record 282 seats in the 543-member Lok Sabha to oust the Congress, which was decimated to just 44 seats.