Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav says ties with Congress continue to be good

"I cannot comment on what will happen in the future. Our ties with the Congress will continue to be good," Akhilesh Yadav told reporters, a day after the Samajwadi Party snatched two BJP strongholds - Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's Gorakhpur and his deputy Keshav Maurya's Phulpur parliamentary seats in Uttar Pradesh - with the support of the BSP.

He was replying to a question whether the SP will tie up with the Congress in the next Lok Sabha elections.

Akhilesh Yadav said the Samajwadi Party "respects all" and "sometimes we have to shed past baggage".

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"Our ties are good with everyone," he said, commenting on the BSP's support to the Samajwadi Party in the Uttar Pradesh by-polls.

The former chief minister said the SP's "big win" in the by-polls was the victory of the "Dalits, poor, labourers, minorities and the other marginalised sections of the society".

"The lotus could not bloom in Phulpur... Their arrogance has been defeated. We hope their language will change."

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