Samajwadi Party, BSP to hold 20 joint rallies in Uttar Pradesh

Lucknow, Jan 13: The Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are looking to finalise schedule and venues of their joint rallies, a day after the once arch-rivals announced their tie-up in Uttar Pradesh for the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

The two parties will be sharing 38 seats each, keeping the Congress party out of the alliance.

The parties, however, said they would not field candidates in Amethi and Raebareli, represented by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also decided to not take out 'Rath Yatras' ahead of the elections this time and focus more on holding rallies.

Meanwhile, Congress president Rahul Gandhi is slated to address 10 public meetings in Uttar Pradesh in February and is slated to make more frequent visits to the state in the run up to the polls in a bid to boost the party's prospects.

Earlier on Saturday, sworn rivals Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati declared that they would "rob Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Amit Shah of their sleep".

In 2014, the BJP had won 71 seats in Uttar Pradesh, which sends the largest number of MPs to the Lok Sabha.

BJP ally Apna Dal bagged two. The Samajwadi Party won five seats and the Congress party two, while the BSP drew a blank.