Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav. File
| Photo Credit: PTI
Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav on Friday (May 8, 2026) threw his weight behind the TMC and DMK, which faced rout in the Assembly polls, and took a jibe at the Congress, saying “we are not the ones who leave during difficult times”.
The Congress has parted ways with its ally DMK and extended support to Vijay’s TVK in Tamil Nadu.
Mr. Yadav also posted on X photographs of his meeting with Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee in Kolkata and with DMK chief M.K. Stalin.
“We are not the ones who leave [you] during the difficult times,” he said.
The former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister on Thursday (May 8, 2026) met Ms. Banerjee at her Kalighat residence and expressed solidarity with the party leadership following its defeat in the West Bengal Assembly polls, while alleging that the elections in the State were conducted on the “Uttar Pradesh model” through intimidation and manipulation.
The meeting assumed political significance amid efforts by Opposition parties to recalibrate strategies after the recent Assembly elections in several States, and as Ms. Banerjee has vowed to strengthen the INDIA bloc after the TMC’s electoral debacle.
Mr. Yadav had alleged that the Bengal polls witnessed “multi-layered mafia tactics” involving the BJP, the Election Commission and “underground elements.”
“What happened in Uttar Pradesh was repeated in Bengal. Opposition polling agents were threatened, and votes were conducted under fear. Central forces were used to ensure the defeat of the opposition,” he had alleged.
The TMC, DMK and SP have been part of the Opposition INDIA alliance.
The BJP won 207 seats to secure more than a two-thirds majority in the 294-member West Bengal Assembly, ending the TMC’s uninterrupted 15-year rule in the state. The Mamata Banerjee-led party was reduced to 80 seats.
In Tamil Nadu, the DMK managed to win only 59 seats in the 234-member assembly.
Published – May 08, 2026 03:00 pm IST
