NEW Delhi, JUN 13 :
The opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh seem to have finalised seat sharing formula for 2019 Lok Sabha elections in the state. Sources have told that while the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) will contest on 30 seats each, the Congress is likely to field its candidates on 10 Lok Sabha seats.
Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, the remaining 10 is likely to be distributed among smaller parties like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).
This comes just days after RLD candidate Tabassum Hasan, backed by BSP, SP and Congress, defeated Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) candidate Mriganka Singh in Lok Sabha byelections in Kairana in Uttar Pradesh. In March, the opposition parties had in a similar manner defeated the BJP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur byelections.
Though there were reports of differences within opposition parties over seat sharing in Uttar Pradesh, former chief minister and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav had said that he was confident of the continuity of alliance with Mayawati-led BSP. Yadav had even said that he ready to compromise on seats to ensure that the BJP got defeated in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“Our alliance with BSP
SP, BSP and Congress….
will continue, in 2019 even if we have to give up a few seats we will do it. We have to ensure BJP is defeated,” the former chief minister had said.
BJP chief Amit Shah has also acknowledged that the coming together of two arch-rivals BSP and SP will be a challenge for his party in the 2019 elections. He has, however, asserted that the BJP will defeat the Congress either in Amethi or Rae Bareli.
Opposition parties, who usually contest against each other, are coming together in several states to take on the BJP juggernaut, which has been unstoppable since 2014 Lok Sabha elections. Recently in Karnataka Assembly elections, though the BJP emerged as the single largest party, the Congress and the JDS joined hands to form a non-BJP government in the state.
