Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Jayant Chaudhary-led Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), both members of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc, have reached a seat-sharing agreement for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, with the RLD getting seven constituencies.
The deal was cemented in a meeting between SP chief Akhilesh Yadav — the BJP-ruled state’s main opposition leader — and Chaudhary Friday morning.
Seat-sharing talks have begun in earnest among Opposition parties in order to play to their strengths in the fight against the BJP in the upcoming general elections.
However, a consensus in UP between the SP and the Congress remains elusive with the national party reportedly demanding 15 of the state’s 80 seats and Yadav reluctant to accept it.
Both Akhilesh and Chaudhary lauded their seat-sharing agreement on X.
“Let us all unite to win,” Yadav wrote.
राष्ट्रीय लोक दल और सपा के गठबंधन की सभी को बधाई!
जीत के लिए सभी एकजुट हो जाएं, जुट जाएं! pic.twitter.com/gIViekBEvV
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) January 19, 2024
Reposting it, the RLD chief said he had expectations from all workers of the alliance, who were always ready “to protect the national and constitutional values”. He asked them to move ahead for the development and welfare of their region.
राष्ट्रीय, संवैधानिक मूल्यों के रक्षा के लिए सदैव तत्पर, हमारे गठबंधन के सभी कार्यकर्ताओं से उम्मीद है, अपने क्षेत्र के विकास और ख़ुशहाली के लिए कदम मिलाकर आगे बढ़ें! https://t.co/O9Qc0VTPuv
— Jayant Singh (@jayantrld) January 19, 2024
RLD spokesperson Anil Dubey said the two parties had fought the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and the 2022 state elections together. “Both are part of the INDIA alliance and will now fight the 2024 Lok Sabha polls together. SP has agreed to concede seven seats for RLD candidates and we will help the coalition candidates win other seats too,” Dubey said.
He said the RLD chief has appointed the coordinators and incharges for three different regions of the state — Braj, Hastinapur and Rohilkhand — to start the preparations for the elections.
SP chief spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary told ThePrint that there was no final word yet on which seats would be given to the RLD.
The party is, however, likely to contest seats in western UP, which is its stronghold. In the 2022 assembly polls, RLD candidates contested from 33 seats and won eight — mostly in the west.
The party had also won the bypoll held in Muzaffarnagar’s Khatauli constituency after the disqualification of former BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini — following his conviction in a case related to the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots.
Saini’s wife Rajkumari was defeated with a margin of over 22,000 votes.
Meanwhile, a third round of talks was held between senior SP and Congress leaders Thursday to try and firm up a deal between the two. Reports said the SP was ready to concede four seats to the Congress, which won one seat in 2019.
In a related development, Azad Samaj Party (ASP) chief Chandrashekhar Azad has declared he will contest the Lok Sabha election from the Nagina constituency in west UP. There is, however, no official confirmation whether the ASP will also be a part of the SP-RLD alliance.
Also read: Akhilesh confident of smooth seat sharing, says dispute with Cong is over