New Delhi: Once arch-rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced on Saturday their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, sharing 38 seats each and keeping the Congress out of the alliance. The parties, however, said they would not field candidates in Amethi and Rae Bareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi. They also left two seats out of the 80 in the state for smaller allies, without naming them. But there have been talks with Ajit Singh’s Rashtriya Lok Dal.
Making the announcement jointly with SP president Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow, BSP chief Mayawati mocked PM Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. “This press conference will rob the guru-chela of their sleep,” she said. “I have full confidence that just as our alliance defeated the BJP in the Lok Sabha bypolls, we will crush the saffron party in the general elections,” she said, referring to the BJP’s defeat in Phulpur, Gorakhpur and Kairana parliamentary bypolls.
In Varanasi, senior Congress leader P Chidambaram hoped the Lucknow announcement wasn’t the last word and a broad-based alliance would be formed in the state as polls approach. But he also asserted the Congress was ready to fight alone. Senior Congress leaders including the UP in-charge at All India Congress Committee, Ghulam Nabi Azad, will be in Lucknow on Sunday to discuss the party’s strategy, a spokesperson said.
Explaining why Congress was not included in the alliance, Mayawati said during that party’s rule over the years, poverty, unemployment and corruption grew and there were scams in defence deals. “Just as the Bofors scam uprooted Congress, BJP will witness the same fate because of its involvement in the Rafale scam,” she said, referring to graft allegations against the ruling party in a deal for French military aircraft. She also said her party has not benefitted in seat-sharing pacts with Congress. “In the past I have seen that our votes get transferred to Congress, but not vice-versa. We do not gain from an alliance with Congress, whereas the vote transfer is perfect in a SP-BSP tie-up,” Mayawati said. Drawing a parallel between BJP and Congress, the BSP chief said Congress had imposed Emergency while BJP is responsible for an undeclared Emergency.
