BSP join hands with SP for UP LS bypolls; Mayawati declared joint Oppn candidate for RS polls

Lucknow, Mar 4 (UNI) In a major political development in Uttar Pradesh, Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Sunday decided to back Samajwadi Party (SP) in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls while BSP president Mayawati was declared joint opposition candidate in the Rajya Sabha polls.
The official announcement of backing SP candidates was made by senior BSP leaders in a press conference on Sunday. Mayawati is yet to speak on the new development.
Gorakhpur LS seat was vacated by Yogi Adityanath when he was elected as the UP CM while Phulpur by deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Earlier in the day, the high profile BSP party leaders held several meetings with their SP counterparts in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
The BSP coordinator of Gorakhpur Ghanshyam Kharwar said that they would support the SP candidate. However, the BSP candidates will not share the dais or campaign with the SP leaders, he said.
“The tie-up with BSP marks the new era of political development in the state, ‘ said the SP MLC Sunil Yadav.
On Saturday, assmebly election results of three north-east states assembly were announced in which BJP won Tripura and Meghalaya while Congress reatined Meghalaya. According to the reports, just after the results BSP leadership held a meeting at the Mayawati residence. Later on Saturday, Mayawati spoke to SP president Akhilesh Yadav in this regard, sources said.
Mayawati with 19 votes of BSP, seven of Congress and an additional vote of SP, can comfortably win the RS polls.
Nominations for the RS polls starts from Monday while March 12 is the last date for filing the nomination with elections slated on March 23.
The Congress, which had allied with the SP for Assembly elections last year, has announced its own candidates on the two LS bypoll seats.
In Gorakhpur, the SP has fielded Praveen Kumar Nishad, the son of Nishad Party chief Sanjay Nishad. Nishad will take on the BJP’s Upendra Shukla and Congress leader Surhita Chatterjee Karim.
In Phulphur, Nagendra Singh Patel, an OBC leader, will contest for SP. Patel will contest against BJP candidate and fellow OBC leader Kaushlendra Singh Patel, who has also been Varanasi Mayor. The Congress has fielded Manish Mishra for this seat.
Voting for bypolls will be held on March 11, while counting of votes will take place on March 14.
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