Mayawati's BSP and Mulayam Singh Yadav's SP were opposite polls of UP's political landscape
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati expressed her condolences after Samajwadi Party founder and arch-rival Mulayam Singh Yadav breathed his last this morning.
The BSP chief tweeted that the news of the passing of the veteran politician and former chief minister is very disappointing and expressed her condolences to his family.
Ms Mayawati's BSP and Mr Yadav's SP were at one point two opposite polls of the Uttar Pradesh political landscape. Their bitter rivalry, however, started with an alliance back in the 1993 Assembly elections.
The polls were being fought in the aftermath of the Babri Masjid demolition and the VP Singh government's implementation of the Mandal Commission recommendations for reservation.
Against this backdrop, BSP founder Kanshi Ram and SP's Mulayam Singh Yadav formed an alliance that prevented the BJP's return to power and Mr Yadav became the Chief Minister. Differences, however, started cropping up soon. And in 1995, things came to a head when a group of SP workers allegedly attacked a guesthouse where Mayawati was holding a meeting with party MLAs. In 1995, the BSP walked out of the alliance, bringing down Mr Yadav's government. Mayawati subsequently joined hands with the BJP and became Chief Minister with its support.
The next two decades witnessed intense rivalry between the two parties.
In 2019, however, as the BJP juggernaut dwarfed every other political force in the northern belt, the two arch rivals came together for the Lok Sabha election.
The reunion saw Mayawati withdraw the two-decades old case against Mr Yadav for the attack on the Lucknow guesthouse. The two leaders were also seen sharing the dais from where they pledged unity and targeted the BJP.
The alliance, however, ended on a bitter note as the alliance managed to win just 15 seats and the BJP swept Uttar Pradesh with a tally of 62. Soon after, Mayawati pulled the plug on the alliance and said the BSP would contest elections alone.