Lucknow, Aug 18 (IANS): Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Thursday blamed the Election Commission (EC) for his party's rout in the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, and by-polls.

"The EC was dishonest. It did not hear Opposition voices. A large number of votes were cut from the electoral rolls. In Rampur, Samajwadi Party workers were not allowed to cast votes while in Azamgarh, red cards were issued to Samajwadi Party workers. Was the EC sleeping? It did not pay heed to our complaints," he said.

Yadav asked the poll body to improve its functioning.

Talking to a select group of reporters, he further said that the political shift in Bihar is a 'positive sign' and hoped a strong alternative to the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) is formed in the 2024 parliamentary polls.

He claimed that the BJP's allies in Uttar Pradesh were not happy with it and would break free from the saffron party in the future.

Yadav said his party is focusing on strengthening and restructuring its organisation and will be holding a national convention this year.

About his party's role in the formation of an alternative, Yadav said: "Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Nationalist Congress Party chief Sharad Pawar are working on it. Our focus as of now is strengthening our party in the state."