‘No difference between Congress and the BJP’: Mayawati

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati, while announcing the tie-up with Samajwadi Party, confirmed that Congress is not part of the alliance. “All sections are unhappy with Congress. Both Congress and BJP have similar policies and both of them are involved in corruption,” said Mayawati. She added that alliance with Congress has backfired in the past. The SP and the BSP are reuniting after 26 years to take on the BJP which won 71 of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014. As part of the alliance, SP and BSP will contest on 38 seats each, while two seats will be left for other parties. Mayawati added that the two parties will not be fielding candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi respectively.