Ahead of UP bypolls, Mayawati's BSP to support Samajwadi Party to counter BJP

Lucknow: Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP) and Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) - two arch rivals in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday formed an alliance to challenge the ruling BJP and its Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on his home turf Gorakhpur.

A tweet by SP spokesperson Pankhuri Pathak informed that the BSP will support Akhilesh's party for the UP bypolls.

"BSP to Support @samajwadiparty in the LS By-Polls in Phulpur & Gorakhpur . Much awaited decision by Mayawati Ji . Looking forward to contesting together & creating a larger Bahujan secular alliance," the tweet read.

BSP Gorakhpur in-charge Ghanshyam Chandra Kharwar on Sunday declared support to SP candidate Praveen Kumar Nishad in the upcoming Gorakhpur bypoll.

Ashok Gautam, BSP Zonal Coordinator, Allahabad said, “Our workers want to eliminate BJP and that is why the members of BSP have decided to extend support and vote for SP candidate Nagendra Singh Patel in Phulpur bypoll.”

The alliance for the bypolls is expected to pave way for the two parties to come together ahead of the 2019 general election.

Bypolls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha constituencies were necessitated after Yogi Adityanath and his deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya vacated the following their election to the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Council.

The polls will be held on March 11. The ruling BJP, which won over 300 seats in the 403-member UP assembly last year, expects a walkover.

According to NDTV, Sunil Singh Yadav of Samajwadi party on reports of support from BSP said, "All I know is BSP does not contest by-elections. At both places where by-elections are being held, SP will give a strong fight to defeat the BJP."

For the BJP, Gorakhpur is significant as it is the bastion of the chief minister, who has represented the seat in the Lok Sabha five times. Prior to Yogi Adityanath, the seat was thrice represented in Parliament by his mentor Yogi Avaidyanath.

Phulpur was once the bastion of the Congress and represented by India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru. It had, for the first time, witnessed a saffron surge in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, when Maurya won the seat.

The by-elections are expected to witness a triangular contest among the ruling BJP, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress.

The saffron party has fielded Kaushalendra Singh Patel from Phulpur and Upendra Dutt Shukla from Gorakhpur against the SP's Pravin Nishad and Nagendra Pratap Singh Patel respectively. Sureetha Kareem is the Congress candidate from Gorakhpur. The party has fielded Manish Mishra from Phulpur.

(With inputs from agencies)