Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav on Friday refused to say how the Congress would fit into the party’s alliance with the Bahujan Samaj Party, but hinted that the Rahul Gandhi-led party may get two seats in Uttar Pradesh, the Hindustan Times reported. He was referring to the Gandhi family bastions of Amethi and Rae Bareli.

“Our [BSP and SP] coming together has not only created fear in the BJP but also in the Congress,” PTI quoted Yadav as saying at a public meeting in Kannauj.

The Samajwadi Party chief said the alliance would get the electoral math right in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections and the Bharatiya Janata Party would be defeated. His statement came a day ahead of his press conference with BSP chief Mayawati, where they are expected to make a formal announcement about the tie-up.

“Last time we had come together in the Lok Sabha bye-elections and BJP had lost the seats [earlier held by] Chief Minister Adityanath and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya,” Yadav said.

The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister said the BJP had strengthened after joining hands with regional parties. “Both SP and BSP are political parties, natural to have different ideologies and fight against each other,” he told NDTV. “But the situation right now is that we have to unite to fight the BJP.”

Yadav told the news channel he was willing to make sacrifices for the alliance. “I have said this in the past, even if I have to take two steps back, I am willing to do so for the alliance,” he told the news channel. “We have not thought about who will be senior or junior partner.”

At the Kannauj meeting, Yadav coined a slogan for the Lok Sabha elections. “Humara kaam bolta hai, BJP ka dhokha bolta hai [Our work and BJP’s betrayal speak for themselves].” He also took a dig at the BJP-led state government for deciding to levy an additional 0.5% cess on excise items to fund cow shelters, saying people will now have to drink more liquor to ensure cow safety, PTI reported.