BSP to Ally With Janta Congress in Chhattisgarh, Go Solo in MP

Mayawati had earlier insisted on a BSP-Congress alliance in the poll-bound states of MP, Rajasthan & Chhattisgarh.

In a press conference, Mayawati announced that the BSP will be tying up with Janta Congress in Chhattisgarh, and will contest the Madhya Pradesh elections by itself. 

(Photo: PTI)

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati on Thursday, 20 September, in a press conference announced that the party would be tying up with Ajit Jogi's Janta Congress in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, with Jogi as the chief ministerial candidate of the alliance.

Further, the Mayawati-led party will also be contesting the Madhya Pradesh bypolls solo.

The news comes as a setback to the Congress and the possibility of a ‘grand alliance’ (mahagatbandan), as Mayawati had earlier insisted on an alliance between the BSP and the Congress in the three poll-bound states of Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, which are to host polls later this year.

Speaking at the press conference with Jogi, the two party leaders issued a joint statement saying:

There has been unbalanced development in Chhattisgarh in the last 15 years. Both the BJP and Congress state leaders have been dependent on the Centre for decisions and this has always compromised the interests of people of the state.

The joint statement, as reported by <i>The Economic Times</i>

Chhattisgarh Polls: 35-55 Seat Share

Mayawati, in the press conference, also stated that the BSP will contest 35 seats and Janta Congress 55 seats out of the 80 Assembly seats in Chhattisgarh polls.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) has decided to contest upcoming Assembly polls in alliance with Janta Congress Chhattisgarh. The BSP will fight on 35 seats and Janta Congress Chhattisgarh will contest on 55 seats. If we win, Ajit Jogi will be the chief minister.&nbsp;

Mayawati&nbsp;

BSP to Contest All 230 Seats in MP

Ram Achal Rajbhar, BSP unit chief in Madhya Pradesh, on Thursday, also announced that the party would contest the upcoming elections in the state by itself, ABP Live reported.

According to Rajbhar, the party would contest all the 230 seats across the 22 constituencies in the upcoming elections, on its own. 

The unit chief reportedly said that the candidates for 22 constituencies had also been selected, which included three of the four sitting MLAs.

Less Seats Offered by Congress in Chattisgarh

The reason behind Mayawati’s swift turn towards the Jogi-led Janta Congress could be that she was unsatisfied with the number of seats that the Congress had been willing to spare for the Chhattisgarh polls, The Economic Times reported.

While Mayawati had wished to contest for at least 50 out of the 230 seats in the state assembly, the Congress had not wished to spare more than 25-30 seats, the report stated. 

This was confirmed further when Mayawati, at the press conference said that BSP would only ally with those parties which were “ready to allocate respectable seats” for her party.

"The alliance partner should also be working for the upliftment of Dalits and Adivasis," she said.

(With inputs from The Economic Times and ABP Live)