BSP chief Mayawati and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav at the press meet (Image courtesy of ANI). 
BSP chief Mayawati and SP’s Akhilesh Yadav at the press meet (Image courtesy of ANI).  
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SP-BSP Alliance Formalised: To Contest 38 Seats Each, Spare Two In Charity To Congress, Two More To Other Parties

BySwarajya Staff

Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have formally announced their alliance for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections. BSP chief Mayawati said that defeating BJP in Uttar Pradesh was the main reason for the alliance. Both parties have agreed to contest 38 seats each and have decided not to field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, strongholds of the Congress. Two more seats have been left for other parties.

Incidentally, the two have reportedly decided to ‘forget’ the 1995 guesthouse incident wherein Samajwadi party workers stormed a guesthouse in Lucknow where Mayawati was chairing a meeting, and vandalised the premises, putting her safety at risk. This came in the backdrop of an alliance between SP and BSP in 1993, which stonewalled the BJP’s efforts to come to power despite the Ram Janmabhoomi movement being at its peak. The SP-BSP alliance did not last long as BSP chief Kanshi Ram withdrew from the coalition, prompting the severe backlash from the SP.

Economic Times quoted Mayawati as saying, “We (BSP-SP) have decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections together. This will lead to a new political revolution in the country,” in a press conference at Lucknow in the presence of former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav.

She said the press conference will not allow Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP chief Amit Shah to sleep peacefully.

Furthermore, she added, “Be it BJP or Congress, whoever rules, their policies are mostly the same. For example, we are seeing how both indulged in corruption in defence deals. Congress imposed Emergency, today there is undeclared emergency. Moreover, we won't gain anything by including Congress in our alliance. Both BSP and SP have experienced in the past that Congress's vote is not transferable,” Economic Times reported.

Congress is reportedly working on a plan where they have a good chance of winning 25 LS seats in UP, making it a concentrated effort that has higher margins of success and requires less resources.