Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav on Sunday said that workers and leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh were desperate to join the alliance between his party and the Bahujan Samaj Party.

“The BSP-SP alliance has made the top leadership of BJP and its entire organisation lose hope,” Yadav tweeted. “Now, BJP’s booth level workers are saying ‘Mera booth chaknachoor [Now, my booth is shattered]’. Such demoralised and desperate leaders and workers desperately want to join the SP and the BSP.”

At a joint press conference in Lucknow on Saturday, BSP chief Mayawati and Akhilesh Yadav announced the alliance of their parties. Mayawati told the media that people have great expectations from the alliance, which she said representsthe poor, farmers, youth, unemployed, women, Dalit, backwards, Muslims and other minorities”. Yadav had accused the BJP government of dividing the state along communal lines.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi lashed out the regional parties and the Congress, saying “opportunistic alliances” and “dynastic parties” were trying to build empires while the BJP was seeking to help people.

The Congress on Sunday said it was not disappointed at not being asked to join the alliance and announced it would contest all 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state.