Apna Dal, Kalyan votes will give winning edge, says BJP

New Delhi, Apr 1 (UNI) The Bharatiya Janata Party today claimed its alliance with the Apna Dal and the return of Mr Kalyan Singh to the party has given it a winning edge in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

In the last elections, the BJP had got 25.21 per cent votes and 88 seats as against 26.27 per cent votes and 143 seats of the Samajwadi Party and 23.19 per cent votes and 98 seats of the Bahujan Samajwadi party.

The Apna Dal and the Rashtriya Kranti Party of Mr Kalyan Singh had got 3.5 per cent votes and 2.5 per cent votes, respectively.

''This time, the combined votes of the Apna Dal and Mr Kalyan Singh's party that total six per cent will go in BJP's favour because of its alliance with the Apna Dal and the return of Mr Singh to the party fold,'' reasoned BJP vice president Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi.

He said the BJP had conceded 52 seats to its allies. The JD(U) will contest on 16 seats while the Apna Dal has been given 36 seats, while the BJP itself was contesting the remaining 351 seats out of the total 403 seats.

Mr Naqvi was addressing a press conference at which he announced that the party was going to release its manifsto for the UP elections tomorrow, and also unveiled the poll campaign plan of the party.

UNI