Bihar minister Dilip Jaiswal criticized SP chief Akhilesh Yadav's meeting with Mamata Banerjee, predicting that the SP will face a defeat in UP similar to the one he claims Mamata's TMC will face in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

Bihar minister Dilip Jaiswal on Friday took a swipe at Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav over his visit to West Bengal and said the SP would face a similar political rout in Uttar Pradesh as Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee faced in the 2026 West Bengal Assembly elections.

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Speaking to ANI, BJP leader Jaiswal said the friendship between opposition leaders had already been formed ahead of future political developments. "Just like people uprooted Mamata Banerjee from power in West Bengal, the same fate will befall the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh in the coming times, hence it is good that a friendship has already been formed," Jaiswal said.

Opposition Solidarity Amidst Defeat

Earlier, in a dramatic show of Opposition solidarity, Akhilesh Yadav met Mamata Banerjee and TMC national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee in Kolkata on Thursday after outgoing Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee declared that she would not resign despite the electoral defeat.

"I won't resign. Let them dismiss me. I want this to be a black day. We have to be strong," she reportedly told party legislators. Banerjee alleged that the elections were manipulated through force and intimidation and claimed the BJP had not achieved a moral victory. "This was not an election but an atrocity," she said, while alleging that over 1,500 TMC offices had been "hijacked" after the results.

BJP Mocks Unity Efforts

Following the development, West Bengal BJP president Samik Bhattacharya mocked the Opposition unity efforts and said, "Zero plus zero is equal to zero. Zero minus zero result is zero."

Akhilesh Reaffirms INDIA Bloc Commitment

Meanwhile, Akhilesh Yadav on Friday also attacked Congress and reiterated his commitment to the INDIA bloc in times of difficulty after Congress dumped DMK and decided to support Vijay's Tamilaga Vetri Kazhagam (TVK) to form a government in Tamil Nadu. He shared the pictures himself along with Mamata Banerjee and DMK supremo MK Stalin on X and said, "We are not the ones who abandon each other in times of difficulty" (ANI)

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