#ls elections

Before the final countdown to the Lok Sabha elections 2019, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has managed to placate its sulking allies in the high prized state of Uttar Pradesh, which is heading for a massive showdown during voting in April and May.

Its principal allies in UP viz. Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Apna Dal (S) had been unhappy over the ‘high-handed’ approach adopted by the party towards them.

While SBSP president and UP cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar had been openly giving statements against BJP leadership and even challenging the Yogi Adityanath government to sack him, Apna Dal (S) patron and union minister Anupriya Patel had also recently expressed dismay over the treatment meted out to her party by the BJP.

There were reports of Patel holding parleys with top Congress leadership in New Delhi over a possible pre-poll understanding. In 2014 elections, Apna Dal had won 2 seats (Pratapgarh and Mirzapur), while BJP emerged victorious on 71 seats of the total 80 LS seats in the state, helping the saffron party form the next government at the Centre with a majority.

The spectre of losing two vital allies in UP, especially in the context of arch-rivals Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) joining hands and Congress fielding its ‘trump card’ and now general secretary in charge of Eastern UP Priyanka Gandhi, the BJP foresaw the adverse impact it could suffer if SBSP and Apna Dal cut ties with the party. Read More