Bahujan Samajwadi Party chief Mayawati on Monday said that an alliance between the Congress and the Samajwadi Party before the upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections will be made “on the direction of BJP [Bharatiya Janata Party]”. The former chief minister said she was sure the final call on the matter would be taken keeping in mind the advantages and disadvantages to the BJP, reported ANI.

Rumours of a Congress-Samajwadi Party alliance have been doing the rounds ever since Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav said the two parties together can win more than 300 seats in the 403-member Assembly. However, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav had said in November that there could only be a “merger” and brushed aside rumours of an alliance. The SP chief’s remarks came after meetings between Congress’ poll strategist Prashant Kishor and Yadav. On December 5, Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee President Raj Babbar also ruled out the possibility of an alliance and said that talks of any tie-ups were merely “hypothetical”.

Mayawati also raked up the issue of demonetisation and said that the hurried move has now becoming a problem for the BJP. “They have tried to benefit rich businessmen and corporate houses in a clandestine manner,” said the BSP chief. She added that the Central government has not even delivered “a quarter of promises made by the party [BJP] during [the] 2014 general elections”.