Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) is set to join the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections, party leader Jayant Chaudhary said on Tuesday, 5 March.
He further added that the RLD will contest the Lok Sabha polls in the crucial state from three seats.
“Rashtriya Lok Dal will join the BSP-SP alliance in Uttar Pradesh. Our workers will work hard to ensure the victory of the alliance in all seats of the state,” he said, as per ANI.
Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav, who was present with Chaudhary at the press conference, announced that the RLD will contest from Mathura, Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar Lok Sabha seats, PTI reported.
To repeated questions, the SP chief asserted that the Congress was "very much in the alliance".
"We have left two seats (Amethi and Raebareli) for the party," he said.
Yadav said the alliance partners will jointly take on the BJP in the Lok Sabha polls in Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 seats.
The Bahujan Samaj Party and the Samajwadi Party, two major political parties in Uttar Pradesh, had announced their alliance for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections on 12 January, in a bid to counter the BJP.
“This press conference will give PM Modi, Amit Shah sleepless nights,” BSP supremo Mayawati had said, sitting next to Akhilesh, while making the announcement in Lucknow’s Taj Mahal Hotel.
Both parties have been locking horns for the past two decades in the state – but now they seem to have buried the hatchet.
Impact of RLD’s Entry?
The RLD's entry is likely to give the Mahagathbandhan a decisive edge in western Uttar Pradesh, especially among Jats and Muslims, who are said to be the traditional support base of the party, as pointed in this report in The Quint.
There are several seats where the RLD's entry is likely boost the Mahagathbandhan's prospects. Read the piece to take a look at seven such seats.
(With inputs from ANI)
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