Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday revealed his Plan B as various exit poll projections showed the Bharatiya Janata Party might dethrone the Samajwadi Party on Saturday, when the Assembly election results will be out. In an interview with BBC Hindi, Akhilesh Yadav hinted at a possible post-poll alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party in case of a hung Assembly.

The Samajwadi Party had contested the Assembly elections in alliance with the Congress. In the interview, Yadav confidently said that SP-Congress alliance will form the government in UP. When asked if he was willing to form an alliance with the BSP after the results were out, Yadav said, “Yes, if the need arises. No one wants President’s rule in the state so that BJP runs the government with a remote control,” he said.

Most exit polls on Thursday showed that the BJP will emerge as the single largest party in the 403-seat Uttar Pradesh Assembly. The Times Now-VMR exit polls predicted that the BJP will win anywhere between 190 to 210 seats. The SP-Congress alliance will win 110-130 seats. NewsX-MRC gave the BJP 185 seats, while Congress-SP a 120. The CSDS-ABP poll projected a close call, with 170 seats for the BJP and 162 for SP-Congress. In the C-Voter exit poll, the BJP is projected to get 161 seats, while the alliance will get 141.