Uttar Pradesh | BJP stitches alliance with smaller parties to corner SP in direct contests

As the 2024 general elections near its conclusion with only the last phase of polling left, the ruling BJP is not ready to leave anything to chance.

Fighting a direct battle with Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP leadership is trying to expand its base. In an attempt to dent the political alliances of the SP before the seventh phase of the elections, the BJP has successfully managed to convince Mahan Dal chief Keshav Dev Maurya to leave the alliance with SP and join NDA in the state.

“It is a matter of great pride for us that leaders of several parties have agreed to accept Prime Minister Narendra Modi as their leader. We are confident that BJP will win more seats in Uttar Pradesh than in the last 10 years. The NDA will improve its tally and we are heading for a massive victory in UP,” Alok Awasthi, Lucknow-based BJP leader and spokesperson told The Federal.

Not the first blow to SP

This is not the first setback for the SP during these elections. Just before the start of the first phase of Lok Sabha elections, the BJP leadership managed to convince Om Prakash Rajbhar-led Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSJ) to leave the SP-led alliance in UP and join the NDA.

The BJP leadership has struck a deal with various smaller parties that have been accommodated in the UP cabinet of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. Apart from it, they’ve also been allocated Lok Sabha seats to contest.

Upsetting the SP’s political equations in the state, the BJP has also managed to convince two smaller parties to merge with the party in the last one month. These are Samajik Nyay Navlok Party (SNNP) and Gondwana Gantantra Party (GGP). The BJP has forged an alliance with six smaller parties in the eastern Uttar Pradesh region. Apart from SNNP and GGP that have merged with the BJP and the recent alliance with Mahan Dal, the BJP is already in alliance with Apna Dal (Sonelal) which is contesting two seats, Mirzapur and Robertsganj. Similarly, Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSJ) is contesting the Ghosi Lok Sabha seat and the Nishad party is contesting the Bhadohi Lok Sabha constituency as part of NDA.

Apart from GGP which has the tribal voter base in small pockets of eastern Uttar Pradesh, the remaining five political parties have different communities of other backward classes (OBCs) as their voter base in eastern UP.

Test for NDA partners

Thirteen Lok Sabha seats in UP, which are going to polls in the last phase on June 1, will be a test for these constituents of the NDA. Out of the seven regional parties that are part of NDA in UP, six of them have political and social presence in eastern parts of the state.

“It is a face-off between NDA and INDIA bloc in UP. We are all contesting under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and are collectively working to win all 80 seats,” Arun Kumar Rajbhar, national spokesperson of SBSJ, told The Federal.

Political analysts believe that the BJP is following a strategy of reaching out to the poor and marginalised communities by aligning with smaller parties. “If we look at the strategy of the BJP, it is forming alliances with smaller parties because it wants to send a message to marginalised communities that it is working for the poor. These smaller parties also benefit because they cannot win on their own and rely on the BJP’s political presence to win seats,” AK Verma, Director at the Centre for Study of Society and Politics (CSSP), told The Federal.