RLD joins SP-BSP in UP: Formal announcement of anti-BJP alliance expected post Akhilesh Yadav-Jayant Chaudhary meet today

Rashtriya Lok Dal leader Jayant Chaudhary is likely to meet Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow on Tuesday, and speculation is rife about whether the parties will formally announce an alliance for the Lok Sabha election in Uttar Pradesh. According to reports, a press conference announcing RLD’s addition to the SP-BSP alliance is on the cards. In January , Akhilesh and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had announced an alliance for the upcoming general elections. In the press conference held to announce the alliance between the former rivals, Mayawati had said that two seats were left for “other allies”, and reports had claimed that RLD is likely to be the third party in the alliance. However, RLD sources had at the time expressed dissatisfaction at the paltry seat share set aside for them. Now latest reports suggest that RLD is likely to be given three seats instead of the formerly allocated two. However, the party is still likely to negotiate for four seats in the alliance. CNN-News18 reported that Choudhary and Akhilesh are likely to hold a press conference on Tuesday, formalising the alliance.

#NewsAlert – @samajwadiparty-RLD-@BSP4India alliance expected to be officially announced today. RLD's @jayantrld will reach Lucknow at around 2 pm. Meeting with @yadavakhilesh on the cards. #BattleOf2019 | @pranshumisraa with more details pic.twitter.com/MfHuun2tK4

— News18 (@CNNnews18) March 5, 2019

Under the current arrangement of the alliance, Mayawati had announced that the BSP and SP will contest on 38 seats each from Uttar Pradesh. She also said that the alliance will not field any candidate on Congress bastions Raebareli and Amethi as a courtesy to Congress. The Congress was left out of the alliance, after which the Rahul Gandhi-led party declared that it would contest on all 80 seats in the state. Explaining why they left out Congress from the alliance, Mayawati had said: “Both BSP, and SP have allied with Congress in the past and we have seen that it is possible. The party has reigned at Centre and in Uttar Pradesh for years on end, and yet the poor and the marginalised people suffered under their rule.” Asserting that the SP-BSP alliance will lead to “a new political revolution in the country”, Mayawati had slammed the two national parties. She had said, “The policies of the BJP and Congres, no matter who was in power, were the same.” With inputs from agencies