CONG TO LEAVE 7 SEATS IN UP FOR SP-BSP COMBINE
State chief says move ‘reciprocal gesture’, party aligns with Jan Adhikar Party
LUCKNOW: The Congress on Sunday decided to leave seven Lok Sabha seats for the alliance comprising the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh.
The move came days after the coalition decided that it will not field candidates from the two Congress strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi in the politically crucial state.
“We are thankful to them [alliance] for leaving the two seats... we are leaving seven seats for them. These seven seats include Mainpuri, Kannauj, Firozabad, and the seats from where BSP chief Mayawati and RLD leaders Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary may contest the elections,” UP Congress chief Raj Babbar told mediapersons. Though the state Congress chief did not name the seventh seat, he nodded in agreement when journalists hinted at Azamgarh, from where SP chief Akhilesh Yadav may contest the Lok Sabha elections.
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We are thankful to them (alliance) for leaving the two seats [Rae Bareli and Amethi]...we are leaving seven seats for them. These include... the seats from where BSP chief... and RLD leaders Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary... may contest RAJ BABBAR, UP Congress chief
LUCKNOW: The Congress on Sunday decided to leave seven Lok Sabha seats for the alliance comprising the Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in Uttar Pradesh.
The move came days after the coalition decided that it will not field candidates from the two Congress strongholds of Rae Bareli and Amethi in the politically crucial state.
“We are thankful to them (alliance) for leaving the two seats...we are leaving seven seats for them. These seven seats include Mainpuri, Kannauj, Firozabad, and the seats from where BSP chief Mayawati and RLD leaders Ajit Singh and Jayant Chaudhary may contest the elections,” UP Congress chief Raj Babbar told mediapersons.
Though the state Congress chief did not name the seventh seat, he nodded in agreement when journalists hinted at Azamgarh, from where SP chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav may contest the Lok Sabha elections.
The Congress has not formally joined the Opposition alliance in UP, though Akhilesh, in a reconciliatory message earlier this month, said the grand old party is part of the coalition. Mayawati, however, has indicated that her BSP won’t ally with the Congress anywhere in the country, dashing hopes of Opposition unity against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the April-May Lok Sabha elections.
“It’s a pity that a party [Congress] that ruled the country for so many years has become so desperate that it has left several seats for an alliance that left just two [seats] for it. But in a way it also exposes the fear factor within the Congress. Their desperation is evident,” UP BJP general secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said.
SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said the Congress should chart its poll strategy in such a manner that the damage is done to the BJP, and not the SP-BSP-RLD alliance.
The Congress also announced an understanding for seven seats with lesser known political outfit Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) of Babu Singh Kushwaha, a former aide of Mayawati. The JAP will contest five seats on its own poll symbol, and two of its leaders will contest as Congress candidates.
The Congress’s move to align with the JAP is being viewed as an attempt to make inroads into the Dalit and backwards vote banks of the BSP as the JAP is believed to have a considerable following in Bundelkhand.
The Congress has also aligned with a breakaway faction of BJP ally Apna Dal, giving it Gonda and Pilibhit seats. Apna Dal (Krishna Patel group) leader Pankaj Niranjan will contest the election on a Congress ticket. The Congress and its allies will contest on 73 of the 80 seats in UP.
About the alliance with the JAP, Babbar said five seats that will be allotted to it include Jhansi, Chandauli, Etah and Basti. “Jan Adhikar Party will contest one more seat on its poll symbol,” he said.
JAP working president Shiv Sharan Kushwaha said the alliance with the Congress would work in favour of both the partners.
Asked about the possibility of bringing on board the Bhim Army, Babbar pointed out that its chief, Chandrashekhar, has announced that he wants to be a consensus candidate against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi.