The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) has announced a pre-poll alliance for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election. RLD president Jayant Singh Chaudhary, speaking to NDTV, said it was the farmers' protest and the government's reaction to it which was the tipping point for his party. "They wasted the time of the farmers for a year. The farmers' protest wasn't the reason for the economic downturn, it was the Centre's decision which impacted the economy," he said.