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AAP-SP rule out alliance for 2022 UP polls — seat-sharing, agenda prove sticking points

While the SP currently has 56 seats in the 403-seat assembly in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP is set to make its assembly election debut in UP in next year's polls.

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New Delhi: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Samajwadi Party (SP) have ruled out the possibility of a pre-poll alliance for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. Speculations of a probable alliance between the two were rife for the past month, ever since SP chief Akhilesh Yadav met the AAP’s Rajya Sabha member and in-charge of UP poll campaign Sanjay Singh in Lucknow on 24 November.

Senior functionaries in AAP and SP told ThePrint Thursday that Singh and Yadav met at least twice in the past month and top leaders of both parties were actively discussing seat-sharing plans, but the two parties could not reach a consensus on the matter.

“The idea of an alliance is not working. We will contest in all 403 seats on our own now,” Sanjay Singh said Wednesday.

SP national spokesperson Udayveer Singh, a close aide of Yadav, also dismissed the possibility of an alliance with the AAP and said Wednesday, “No decision could be reached regarding an alliance with the AAP.”

While the SP currently has 56 seats in the 403-seat assembly in Uttar Pradesh, the AAP is set to make its assembly election debut in UP in next year’s polls.

While both Sanjay Singh and Udayveer Singh, as well as other top leaders in the two parties, refrained from commenting on why the talks did not work out, a senior SP leader who did not wish to be identified said Thursday: “In our talks with the AAP, we realised that we were not gaining anything because, as we see it at this point, they do not have a specific support base.”

A senior AAP leader, meanwhile, said, “Our agendas are primarily based on good governance, welfare and anti-corruption”. “We tried but failed to find common ground with the way the SP and smaller parties are approaching the upcoming polls.”


Also read: Yogi holds previous govts responsible for farmers’ suicides in UP


Difference in agenda

The AAP aims to focus on constituencies in and around the national capital region (NCR) and on urban pockets in central Uttar Pradesh. But the SP already has strong candidates for these seats — either of own or from allies like the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) in western Uttar Pradesh, senior leaders in both parties told ThePrint.

Senior functionaries in both parties added that the two parties had also failed to align in terms of fundamental agenda.

While the SP is very specific about caste equations and demographic calculations, the AAP is approaching the polls solely with welfare and governance agendas, to replicate its model in Delhi, where it is currently in power.

While speaking to ThePrint, Sanjay Singh said, “We are drafting a manifesto, which will include 300 units of free electricity, bill waivers, free electricity for farmers, model schools, more jobs and financial assistance of Rs 5,000 per month for the unemployed, among other things.”

Meanwhile the SP, after allying with the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the Congress in the 2017 Assembly polls — both of which ended in defeat for the party — only plans to ally with smaller parties with specific vote bases for the 2022 polls, said senior party leaders.

Sources in SP said that all smaller parties which the SP has so far allied with for the 2022 assembly polls have appeal among specific groups. For example, the RLD has a strong base in the western UP rural belt, which witnessed widespread protests against the three controversial farm laws.

The Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, now an SP ally, enjoys support among backward communities such as Rajbhars, Chauhans, Pals, Vishwakarmas, Prajapatis, Baris, Banjaras and Kashyaps. Another ally, the Mahan Dal, has presence among caste groups such as Shakyas, Sainis, Mauryas and Kushwahas in the western UP districts, while the Janwadi Party (Socialist) has a base among the Nonia community.

(Edited by Poulomi Banerjee)


Also read: Akhilesh Yadav’s SP isn’t giving up against Yogi Adityanath’s BJP. They have a 3-point plan


 

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