The Congress on Sunday returned the favour to the BSP-SP-RLD alliance, saying it had decided not to field candidates from seven Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from where the regional giants would fight the election.
The seats include Mainpuri from where Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav will contest; Kannauj, from where SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s wife Dimple Yadav is a candidate; constituencies from where Rashtriya Lok Dal’s Ajit Singh and his son Jayant Chaudhary will enter the poll fray, and any seat that Mayawati chooses to contest.
UP Congress president Raj Babbar made this announcement here on Sunday.
The decision came two months after SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP supremo Mayawati said in a joint press conference on January 12 that they would not field candidates in Congress president Rahul Gandhi’s constituency Amethi, and and that of United Progressive Alliance chairperson Sonia Gandhi — Rae Bareli.
“The SP-BSP alliance has left two seats for us — Amethi and Rai Bareli. We respect them for this gesture and now in return we are leaving seven seats for BSP, SP, RLD. The seats include Mainpuri, Kannauj, Firozabad and whichever seats Mayawatiji and RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary and Ajit Singh will contest from,” Babbar said.
He, however, could not tell the name of the seventh Lok Sabha seat, which the Congress will be leaving for the alliance. But it is likely to leave the Azamgarh seat from where Akhilesh Yadav may fight the poll.
“We will also give two seats — Gonda and Pilibhit — to Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction),” Babbar said in a press conference.
The Congress has stitched pre-poll alliance with Apna Dal (Krishna Patel).
Babbar said the Congress would contest seven seats in alliance with Jan Adhikar Party (JAP) led by tainted former BSP leader Babu Singh Kushwaha, who is main accused in multi crore rupees National Rural Health Mission scam. The JAP will contest five seats on its symbol and two on Congress symbol.
The seats given to Jan Adhikar Party are Jhansi, Chandauli Etah and Basti while one seat will be announced later on. The JAP will filed candidate from two seats — Ghazipur and one another — on Congress symbol.
In the 2012 UP assembly election, JAP allied with the Bharatiya Janata Party. The BJP was compelled to call off the alliance following outrage. Babu Singh Kushwaha is presently in jail.
“We had talked to Mahan Dal earlier. The party leadership had said it was fine with whatever seats we have to offer, but wanted to contest the Vidhan Sabha election. For the Lok Sabha election, Mahan Dal leaders have agreed to contest on our symbol. We will find out a way to work with them,” the UPCC chief added.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi on January 19, after the launch of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as party general secretary in charge of UP (east), had said the party would fight the elections on the front foot on its own strength. In his recent comments, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had maintained that the Congress was a part of the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) in UP and it had been given the two seats of the Gandhi family — Amethi and Rae Bareli.
