NEW DELHI/LUCKNOW, Mar 12: In a setback to the prospects of an opposition grand alliance to take on the ruling BJP in the Lok Sabha election, the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) made it clear today that it would not have any electoral tie-up with the Congress in any State for the polls beginning April 11.
In a statement, BSP supremo Mayawati said, “It is being made clear again that the Bahujan Samaj Party will not have any electoral alliance with the Congress in any State.”
Her remarks came on a day when the highest policy-making body of the Congress — the Congress Working Committee (CWC) — met in Ahmedabad, led by party president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.
Referring to her party’s pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, Mayawati said it was based on “mutual respect” and “honest intentions”, adding that “the SP-BSP alliance is perfect enough to defeat the BJP, especially in Uttar Pradesh”.
The SP and the BSP stitched together an alliance in Uttar Pradesh recently, keeping the Congress out, though the two parties decided not to field any candidates in Rae Bareli and Amethi, the traditional strongholds of the grand old party.
Of the 80 Lok Sabha seats in the state, the SP will contest 37 and the BSP 38, leaving three for the Ajit Singh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and two for Sonia Gandhi (Rae Bareli) and Rahul Gandhi (Amethi).
The BSP will put up its candidates mostly in western Uttar Pradesh, including Saharanpur, Bijnor, Nagina, Amroha, Meerut, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Bulandshahr, Aligarh, Agra and Fatehpur Sikri.
Besides, the party will contest Aonla, Shahjahanpur, Dhaurahra, Sitapur, Misrikh, Mohanlalganj, Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Farrukhabad, Akbarpur, Jalaun, Hamirpur, Fatehpur, Ambedkarnagar, Kaiserganj, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Deoria, Bansgaon, Lalganj, Ghosi, Salempur, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, Ghazipur and Bhadohi. (PTI)
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