Old rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in Uttar Pradesh have "almost finalised" an alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, senior SP leaders have said. The final decision will, however, be taken by party leaders Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati.

Reports suggest that the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will also be made part of the alliance, while the Congress will be kept out of it. Reacting to this, senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid had said that if the Congress is excluded from the coalition, any nationwide anti-BJP front would be "weakened".