The two parties begin formal talks on a possible alliance; BSP demands 39 seats across six states besides Uttar Pradesh.
New Delhi: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has demanded 39 Lok Sabha seats from the Congress in six states outside Uttar Pradesh, ThePrint has learnt. The two parties have formally begun talks for a possible national alliance ahead of four assembly polls and the 2019 Parliamentary elections.
Senior BSP leader and Rajya Sabha MP Satish Chandra Mishra met Congress veteran Ahmed Patel in New Delhi on 10 August. Sources said it was in the meeting that the BSP demanded the seats at Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Punjab, Haryana and Maharashtra. The Congress is yet to take a final call on the BSP demand.
But party president Rahul Gandhi, authorised by the Congress Working Committee last month to take the final call on alliances for 2019 and the four assembly elections, is seriously considering tying up with the BSP based on detailed analysis presented to him by party insiders.
Also read: AGP will pull out of alliance if BJP goes ahead with citizenship bill: Prafulla Mahanta
‘BSP important to Congress’
Congress insiders have told the party president that the BSP could be vital to the party’s chances in the 2019 elections. As per their analysis, if the Congress had allied with the BSP in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, the UPA would have ended up with 15 more seats — four in MP and UP, two each in Punjab and Chhattisgarh and one each in Bihar, Maharashtra and Karnataka.
Congress analysts also believe that the UPA could reach around 200 seats in 2019 by merely aligning with the BSP.
“Assuming a 3 per cent vote swing from the NDA to UPA, coupled with an alliance with the BSP would take the UPA tally to 192 to be precise,” says a Congress source. “The number could go much higher if we add parties like SP and others who were not part of the UPA in 2014.”
Also read: Congress leaders look at regional alliances in a bid to take on BJP
Despite not garnering electoral success, the BSP has wide presence across eight to nine states. The Congress feels that an alliance in six states apart from Uttar Pradesh, would help the party get BSP votes in other states too, which could be crucial in a close contest with the NDA.
“It is beyond doubt that the BSP has nationwide presence. We are the third largest party after the BJP and the Congress in terms of nationwide vote share. Our leader Mayawatiji had already said that we will align with the party if we are given a respectable number of seats,” says Sudhindra Bhadoria, senior BSP leader and the party’s official spokesperson. “However, any such decision will be taken by Mayawatiji herself”.
Reading this article in August 2019. So much for these journos having ear to the ground
The BSP-SP alliance has made the BJP panicky. Its leaders are making baseless statements against the leaders of the alliance. Our candidate lost the Rajya Sabha election as the BJP resorted to the misuse of government machinery and money power,” Mayawati said addressing a meeting of BSP leaders.
She said the SP and the BSP did not join hands for vested interests but to provide relief to the people from the anti-people policies of the BJP-led NDA government.
Congress should have a target of 45 improving upon existing strength of 44. Then they can call it a victory of Rahul Gandhi
Go for it best of luck