BJP ties up with local party in MP

Bhopal: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Saturday sealed an alliance with the Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP) for the upcoming assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh.

BSP got a major share of 178 out of 230 assembly seats under the seat-sharing agreement, leaving its electoral ally, GGP, to field candidates in the remaining 52 seats.

This was the first time BSP entered into an electoral alliance with GGP, a tribal outfit of Central India, in the polls.

“The alliance will help the two parties emerge as a formidable dalit-tribal electoral force in the elections”, BSP Rajya Sabha member Ramji Gautam told reporters here.

According to him, BSP has decided to contest in the regions of its influence such as Gwalior-Chambal, Bundelkhand, and Vindhyanchal, while leaving its ally to field its candidates in tribal belts of Mahakoshal and Madhya Bharat.

BSP had won three seats in the last assembly polls in the state whereas GGP had drawn a blank.

BSP has already declared names of 16 candidates in two phases for the ensuing assembly elections in MP.

BSP has also forged alliance with GGP in Chhattisgarh for the first time for the year-end assembly polls.

Mayawati’s party is going to field its candidates in 53 out of total 90 seats in Chhattisgarh, leaving the remaining 37 seats for GGP.

BSP, which had entered into a poll alliance with Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), founded by late chief minister Ajit Jogi, in the 2018 assembly polls in Chhattisgarh had won two seats.

JCC had bagged five seats in the polls then.

BSP has however decided to break its alliance with JCC in this poll.

GGP has no member in the current Chhattisgarh assembly.