Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal seal pre-poll alliance ahead of UP elections
Lucknow/IBNS: Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) and Samajwadi Party (SP) have finalised a pre-poll alliance, RLD president Jayant Singh Chaudhary told NDTV today.
The decision came after the two leaders met in Lucknow, and Chaudhary said a formal announcement will be made soon.
Talks on seat-sharing are in the last phase with Akhilesh Yadav, he added.
He ruled out the possibility of any arrangement with the BJP. "No question of going with BJP," he said.
Both the leaders tweeted pictures with each other hinting that a formal announcement could be expected soon.
Chaudhary wrote "Badhte Kadam (advancing steps)" with his image with Yadav while the SP chief shared a picture of them shaking hands with a short message, "With Shri Jayant Chaudhary, towards change."
श्री जयंत चौधरी जी के साथ बदलाव की ओर pic.twitter.com/iwJe8Onuy6
— Akhilesh Yadav (@yadavakhilesh) November 23, 2021
The two parties have fought the Uttar Pradesh assembly and Lok Sabha bypolls together since 2017.
The alliance is aimed at consolidating the Jat and Muslim votes in crucial western UP seats. The relations between the two communities were strained after the the communal violence in Muzaffarnagar in 2013, which accoring to political watchers helped BJP take a lead in the region.
As for BJP, BJP leader and Home Minister Amit Shah will personally formulate and implement strategy at the grass-root level for the BJP in western UP.
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