After Akhilesh-Mayawati alliance talk, Congress says will go solo
Lucknow, Jan 5 (IBNS): With several media reports claiming the Samajwadi party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) are looking for an alliance without the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, the country's oldest party said it will go solo in the 2019 General Elections in the state.
Several media reports claimed Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati, chiefs of SP and BSP respectively, met on Friday to discuss alliance in Uttar Pradesh to dethrone the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from power at the Centre.
After predicting a possible snub, Congress, which went to Uttar Pradesh assembly elections in 2017 with the SP, said it is ready to contest the elections alone.
Congress leader PL Punia said his party workers are ready to battle out without any partner.
However, a senior SP leader tried to deny the reports claiming Congress will not be a part of the alliance.
Reports also said the SP and BSP will contest in 37 seats each leaving Congress' stronghold Amethi and Rae Bareli seats.
BJP poses confident:
Despite reports of possible alliance, Manendra Nath Pandey, the Uttar Pradesh BJP chief, said the 2019 Lok Sabha elections will be a contest between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the rest, NDTV reported.
Will Akhilesh-Mayawati make post-poll tie up with Congress?
Following the recent Madhya Pradesh elections, questions can come up easily whether the SP-BSP will join hands with Congress once the 2019 Lok Sabha polls get over.
In 2018, after the conclusion of the Madhya Pradesh polls, Mayawati offered her support to the Congress, which was short of majority mark, to form the government and keep BJP out of power.
How SP-Congress alliance failed in 2017:
Though the SP and Congress made a pre-poll tie up in 2017, they failed to stop the Modi juggernaut in Uttar Pradesh.
The saffron party-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) swept the state polls by winning 325 seats in a 403-member assembly, uninstalling the Akhilesh Yadav government.
The SP-Congress could manage to win 54 seats while BSP bagged just 19.
Recent success of grand alliance in UP:
The BJP had suffered a crushing defeat in the hands of the grand alliance in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies, where by-polls were held in 2018. Both the seats were strong holds of Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath and his deputy Keshav Prasad Maurya.
In a by-poll which took place in Kairana parliamentary constituency, grand alliance candidate from Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Tabassum Hasan, made the BJP bite the dust.
In Noorpur assembly seat, grand alliance candidate from SP, Naim Ul Hasan, clinched a victory, scaring the saffron unit.
How BJP performed in 2014 General Elections?
Riding on Modi wave, the BJP and its allies swept Uttar Pradesh by winning 73 out of 80 parliamentary seats.
The SP had won five while Congress could manage to clinch only two seats. Mayawati's BSP had failed to open its account.
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