Lok Sabha elections: SP to contest 37 seats in Uttar Pradesh, BSP gets 38
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once-arch rivals SP and BSP had announced the alliance in January when both the parties said that they would contest 38 seats each, out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Supremo Mayawati and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav have decided that SP will contest on 37 seats while BSP will fight on 38 seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections 2019, reported news agency ANI.
once-arch rivals SP and BSP had announced the alliance in January when both the parties said that they would contest 38 seats each, out of the total 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
The duo left four seats for other small allies then.
While making the formal announcement about their alliance, both the parties declared that they will not field any candidate to oppose Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi in their respective Lok Sabha seats.
Rahul Gandhi is a Lok Sabha MP from Amethi and Sonia Gandhi from Raebareli.
Meanwhile, SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav expressed unhappiness over the Uttar Pradesh pact ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, questioning why Akhilesh Yadav gave "half" the seats to Mayawati's party.
The remarks come days after SP patriarch created a stir in Parliament, saying he wished that Prime Minister Narendra Modi returns to power.