BSP PLANS TO CONTEST 5560 SEATS IN MADHYA PRADESH POLLS

BHOPAL: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) is planning to contest elections in 55-60 of the 230 seats in the upcoming assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh and is in the process of selecting candidates, according to state party president Narmada Prasad Ahirwar.

The BSP currently has four seats in the assembly, from the Chambal and Rewa division.

“Behenji (BSP chief Mayawati) has instructed us to be prepared to contest 55-60 seats and we are in the process of identifying them and selecting our candidates,” Ahirwar told reporters on Sunday.

Ahirwar said there was no talk of a pre-poll alliance with the Congress at a time when Opposition parties are in the process of putting together a federal front to take on the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), particularly since the Congress state chief Kamal Nath said last month that the party was trying to bring “like-minded” parties together.

The Congress is the principal Opposition to the ruling BJP in the state.

Ahirwar contended that the Congress had more to gain from an alliance with BSP.

“(The) Congress wants to get our share of the vote bank and that is why it is desperate to ally with us... But this misinformation is causing problems for us as it is demotivating our workers,” Ahirwar said.

In the 2013 assembly elections, the BJP had got nearly 45% of the votes case, while the Congress had got 36% and the BSP managed about 6%.

When asked if the party could form an alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in the state on the lines of the tie-up in Uttar Pradesh, Ahirwar said the SP has no base in Madhya Pradesh, and therefore, a tie-up would be meaningless.

When asked about Ahirwar’s comments, state Congress spokesperson Manak Agrawal said: “We are not spreading any rumours. We are only repeating what our national president Rahul Gandhi has said about allying with like-minded parties.”