BJP alliance grows in UP, but seat-sharing may turn out to be tricky

Later, Nishad in a tweet said his party was prepared to contest 37 Lok Sabha seats on its symbol. “The BJP should give us all those seats where it lost in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections,” he declared. “We will win these seats.” The BJP lost 16 seats in 2019.

The SBSP contested the 2017 Assembly elections in alliance with the BJP, winning four constituencies, but left the alliance ahead of the 2019 elections because of concerns about “social justice”. According to sources, the BJP’s decision to deny Rajbhar’s son a Lok Sabha ticket was the reason why the SBSP chief broke the alliance.

Sources said that Rajbhar had returned to the NDA this time with a demand for at least two Lok Sabha seats in eastern UP. But the BJP has so far agreed to give up only one. The party has said it can give either Ghazipur or Ghosi to the SBSP leader. Rajbhar’s bargaining power increased after his party bagged six seats in last year’s Assembly elections, which he contested as part of the Samajwadi Party-led alliance.

The Apna Dal (S) and the BJP have contested four elections together so far. Both in the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls, the Apna Dal (S) contested two constituencies and won both. In the last Assembly election, the party emerged as the third-largest party in the Assembly by winning 12 seats. It received the status of a state party and the party’s current strength in Assembly is 13 after winning a bypoll.

“The Apna Dal (S) maintained an alliance with BJP in so many elections and also increased its strength and expanded the organisation in the past 10 years. Our workers want the party to contest more seats to increase strength in Parliament. We are hopeful to get more seats in 2024,” said an Apna Dal (S) leader.

Apna Dal (S) working president and UP Cabinet minister Ashish Patel said, “Our party never does any bargaining for seat-sharing. We contest the elections with our bigger partner BJP on the basis of our issues related to social justice. Seat-sharing is not an issue for us and we will settle this by discussion.”

A BJP leader in Delhi said, “The BJP is likely to deny tickets to some of its sitting MPs who are facing anti-incumbency and candidates who contested in 2019 but lost elections. Allies and new entrants who have influence in those seats can be accommodated there. The BJP has the pressure to adjust the allies for winning maximum seats in UP to retain power in Delhi.”

BJP spokesperson Rakesh Tripathi said, “There is no challenge in the alliance. The BJP believes in taking everyone along. Certainly, one has to adjust when the number of partners increases. Partial disadvantage is possible but advantages of an alliance are bigger.”