Blowing hot and cold, Mahan Dal, SP back together for MP polls, UP alliance uncertain

Mahan Dal was part of the SP-led umbrella alliance for the 2022 UP Assembly polls, following which the party walked out of its alliance with the SP alleging that Akhilesh had ignored it. Earlier this year, the party began campaigning in UP for the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP).

Now, the SP and Mahan Dal are once again together for the MP Assembly elections. SP spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said, “Mahan Dal is supporting SP candidates in MP. The party offered to support the SP on its own volition.”

In his speech at a rally in MP, Akhilesh announced that the SP and the Mahan Dal have once again come together. “We were never really estranged from the Mahan Dal. The distance had increased, but the MP elections have removed that,” he said.

Speaking to The Indian Express, Maurya said, “I met Akhilesh in Lucknow on October 23 and I can now announce that we have an alliance with the SP in Madhya Pradesh, and are supporting it there.”

About the future of the alliance, Maurya said it will continue if his party’s “share” is maintained. “As of now, the alliance is only for MP. Two candidates of my party are contesting on the SP symbol, from the Prithvipur and Jatara seats,” he said.

On his canvassing for the BSP in UP between June and September this year, Maurya said, “I have a soft corner for both the SP and the BSP. I want both to grow stronger in UP, because Dalits, backwards and minorities can only get their dues and share in governance because of these two parties.”

Maurya added that since the time he had drifted away from the SP after the 2022 polls, he had begun supporting the BSP. “My party did wall writing in support of the BSP. Yet, the BSP did not issue even a letter or talk to us. I approached Behanji (Mayawati) to meet her and other BSP leaders, but did not receive any response. So we have stopped campaigning for the BSP,” he said.

In June this year, alleging Akhilesh had ignored Maurya, the Mahan Dal had announced unconditional support for the BSP and begun wall-campaigns in Farrukhabad, Kasganj, Shahjahanpur, Badaun, etc, with the slogan: “Mahan Dal ne thana hai, BSP ko jitana hai (Mahan Dal has taken a vow, it is going to make BSP win).” For the MP polls, Maurya’s party is reusing the same slogan, with SP replacing BSP in it.

“Our alliance is now with the SP, as relations have been restored,” Maurya said, adding that at a public rally in Jatara, Akhilesh had offered him the seat next to himself. “He (Akhilesh) paid due respect, had my photo with him up in hoardings,” Maurya said, adding that he likes both the SP and the BSP equally. “I don’t have any enmity with Behanji. I respect her a lot and appreciate the development and law and order she achieved while in power,” he said.

In a post on “X” on Wednesday, Maurya also stated that the SP and BSP should come together in the interest of the PDA (Pichhde, Dalit, Alpsankhyak). He added that the BJP can be defeated if the two parties repeat their 2019 Lok Sabha alliance, and take some smaller parties along. He added that the SP will win fewer seats if it contests only in alliance with the Congress.

In Jatara, the candidate on the SP ticket is R R Bansal, who had contested on the same seat in 2018 as a Mahan Dal nominee, finishing runner-up with 26,600 votes, whereas the SP candidate had come third. “He is our candidate, but contesting on the SP symbol,” Maurya said. In Prithvipur, a similar arrangement has Minee Yadav contesting on the SP ticket.

In the 2018 MP polls, the Mahan Dal had contested on two seats — Jaura and Jatara. In Jaura, its candidate had finished fourth, with 17,167 votes, but got more votes than the SP nominee there.

In the 2013 MP polls, the Mahan Dal had contested nine seats, failing to win any of them. Maurya himself had contested from Prithvipur, while his wife Suman fought from Jaura. Both had lost the polls.

In the 2022 UP polls, Maurya’s wife and son had contested on the SP ticket from Farrukhabad and Bilsi, with both finishing the runner-up.

In the Lok Sabha polls in 2009 and 2014, the Congress had joined hands with the Mahan Dal in a bid to strengthen its outreach to OBC voters in UP. However, in both these polls, the Mahan Dal had failed to win any seats. Maurya had announced an alliance with the Congress for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls too, but later went on to extend support to the BJP.

For the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Mahan Dal is keen to contest in UP along with the SP. It has demanded two seats, although there has been no discussion between the two parties on the issue so far.