The formation of a grand alliance is a reality and talks have been initiated at the highest level. Sharad Pawar, Mamata Banerjee and Lalu Prasad have also spoken about a grand alliance. The biggest hindrance in such an alliance was Mayawati and SP leadership but those two leaders have also started talking about a grand alliance and now the differences will end soon,” said a senior SP leader based in Lucknow. But after the loss, the SP and BSP came together to target the BJP with allegations of tampering of electronic voting machines. There is no option but to form a grand alliance against BJP but a national-level alliance will need an earnest effort on the part of SP,” said a senior JDU leader based in Delhi.

Source: Mint April 16, 2017 18:11 UTC