Mar 14, 2018 15:26 (IST)
UP By-Election Results 2018: Watch Video - Samajwadi Party Leader Ram Govind Choudhury Meet BSP Chief Mayawati In Lucknow
Regional heavyweights and arch-rivals Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party have pooled resources to take on the BJP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in what is seen as an experiment to test the ground for a larger alliance for the 2019 national election. In both seats, the Samajwadi Party fielded candidates, with the BSP offering support in a rare deal that includes the Samajwadi Party's support for the BSP in Rajya Sabha elections in UP later this month. "If we win, there will be a bigger alliance," promised Pravin Nishad, fielded by the Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur.
Mayawati, the Dalit powerhouse in the state, has not fielded a candidate. Her workers have asked the sizeable Dalit community to vote for the Samajwadi candidates, though she has not committed to a bigger partnership, waiting to see how the experiment works. The present arrangement, she has insisted, is an "agreement" not an "alliance."
Leader of the opposition and Samajwadi Party member Ram Govind Choudhury meets Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati in Lucknow as Samajwadi Party looks set to win both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats with Mayawati's help.
Regional heavyweights and arch-rivals Samajwadi Party and Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party have pooled resources to take on the BJP in Gorakhpur and Phulpur in what is seen as an experiment to test the ground for a larger alliance for the 2019 national election. In both seats, the Samajwadi Party fielded candidates, with the BSP offering support in a rare deal that includes the Samajwadi Party's support for the BSP in Rajya Sabha elections in UP later this month. "If we win, there will be a bigger alliance," promised Pravin Nishad, fielded by the Samajwadi Party in Gorakhpur.
Mayawati, the Dalit powerhouse in the state, has not fielded a candidate. Her workers have asked the sizeable Dalit community to vote for the Samajwadi candidates, though she has not committed to a bigger partnership, waiting to see how the experiment works. The present arrangement, she has insisted, is an "agreement" not an "alliance."
Leader of the opposition and Samajwadi Party member Ram Govind Choudhury meets Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati in Lucknow as Samajwadi Party looks set to win both Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha seats with Mayawati's help.
Leader of the opposition and Samajwadi Party member Ram Govind Choudhury met Bahujan Samaj Party Chief Mayawati in #Lucknow pic.twitter.com/6t0zPy53B9
- ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) March 14, 2018