Mamata Banerjee welcomes SP-BSP alliance formation ahead of Lok Sabha polls

"I welcome the alliance of the SP and the BSP for the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections," she tweeted.

Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress is one of the opposition parties to be challenging the Bharatiya Janata Party in the general elections.

SP-BSP form alliance ahead of Lok Sabha polls:

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav and Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati on Saturday announced an alliance in which both the parties will contest for 38 seats each, media reports said.

Two seats have been left for the Congress and two for other allies.

Akhilesh, Mayawati challenge Narendra Modi:

Addressing a joint press conference in Lucknow along with Akhilesh, Mayawati vowed to give "sleepless nights" to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah.

The SP and BSP were arch rivals in state and national politics till a few days ago.  The alliance, considered unlikely even in the recent past was prompted by the urge to counter the might of the BJP, which swept the last Assembly elections.

Replying a question on his party's volatile relationship with the BSP, Akhilesh Yadav said, “I have full faith in Mayawati ji.”

The two parties are going together since March last year when they jointly defeated the BJP in its pocket boroughs of Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

The BJP won 71 out of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh in 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Two other seats went to its ally Apna Dal. The SP won five, the Congress two, and the BSP none.