Congress has announced its plan of contesting elections for all eighty seats in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019 General Elections. The decision came soon after the Samajwadi Party and the Bahujan Samaj Party announced their alliance on Saturday
Indian National Congress General Secretary and in charge of Uttar Pradesh, Ghulam Nabi Azad revealed the party’s plans of fighting for all eighty seats in UP in the 2019 General Elections. He said on Sunday, “The Congress will contest on all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh, and defeat the BJP”. The Congress decision came soon after the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) announced their alliance in UP.
At a joint press conference on Saturday, Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav and BSP President Mayawati revealed their alliance in Uttar Pradesh. The BSP leader said, “We have decided to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections together, this will lead to a new political revolution in the country” The two political parties excluded Congress from the alliance, stating difference in ideology and policies as the key reason. The BSP President asserted, “We represent the poor, farmers, youth, unemployed, women, Dalit, backwards, Muslims and other minorities.”
Reportedly, Samajwadi Party and the BSP will be contesting for thirty-eight seats each. Prior to this, the two political parties joined hands in 1993 to defeat the Bhartiya Janta Party, which had become quite powerful in Uttar Pradesh.
The alliance announcement was soon followed by Congress’ decision to fight for all eighty Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh. Elaborating on the party’s plans of forming a potential alliance, Rajya Sabha MP Ghulam Nabi Azad said, “If any political party is willing to accompany the Congress, and the Congress feels that it can fight the BJP, then it will be definitely accommodated.”
