Alarm bells have already rung for BJP: Samajwadi Party

The Samajwadi Party on Wednesday said the "alarm bells have already rung" for the BJP and indicated that the party could join a grand alliance of opposition parties to take on the BJP in 2019 polls.

A day after the Congress ousted the BJP from power in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, senior SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav also said that had the Congress coordinated in a better manner with his party, the poll results could have been different for both the parties.

"The alarm bells have already rung for the BJP," he told PTI when asked if the BJP was being rejected by people.

"The results could have been better and the SP and Congress could have won more seats, had the Congress leadership coordinated (with us) in a better manner," Yadav said.

Asked if there was possibility of the SP joining a grand alliance against the BJP, he said, "I think so."

However, Yadav expressed scepticism over ties with the Congress, saying wherever the Rahul Gandhi-led party is strong they don't treat the opposition well.

Top leaders of 21 opposition parties, barring the BSP and the SP, had met here Monday and vowed to forge a united front to fight and defeat the BJP in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, alleging "systematic denigration of democracy" and assault on the Constitution and institutions like the RBI under the BJP government.

The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP), who are major players in politically crucial Uttar Pradesh, skipped the meeting, but gave no reason.

-PTI