UP seat sharing deal: BSP-SP take lessons from Gorakhpur, Phuplur

Lucknow, Dec 24: It is almost certain that the SP, BSP and the RLD would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh together. Last week, there were reports that the seat sharing agreement was done and an official announcement would be made on January 15.

Reports had suggested that the SP would contest from 37 seats, while the BSP and RLD would get 38 and 3 seats respectively. It was also decided that, no candidates would be fielded from Rae Bareli and Amethi, which have been the traditional strongholds of the Congress.

However both the SP and BSP would delay the announcement as they would not want to give their opponents to plan a counter-strategy. Even in the case of both Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana, the BSP and SP kept the strategy under wraps for long.

Further it was also decided that the Congress would stay out of this alliance. The BSP would cite the 1996 elections when the votes of the Congress did not get transferred to the BJP. The BSP which scored a duck in 2014 would want to re-emerge in the state, which it has ruled in the past.

In 2014, the BSP did not win a single seat, but came second in 34. The SP on the other hand won five seats and came second in 31. The RLD on the other hand came second in the Mathura seat.

The BJP on the other hand won 71 seats in 2014, while its ally the Apna Dal bagged two.

This time around the BJP would have to accommodate one more ally, the Suhaldev Bharatiya Samaj Party.

Reports state that the deal is done and it is only a matter of time before the final announcement would be made. All three parties have agreed on the number of seats that would be contested between them. The experience in Gorakhpur, Phulpur and Kairana have shown that this combination is capable of keeping the BJP at bay if they fight together.