SP-BSP join hands in state for Lok Sabha polls

Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party have come together in Maharashtra for the Lok Sabha polls, further splitting the anti-BJP and pro-Dalit votes. This is the fourth alliance in the state, albeit a small one, in addition to the BJP-Sena, Congress-NCP and a conglomerate of other parties, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi, which will field their candidates in 48 segments.

The BSP and SP will announce their seat-sharing and agenda at a press conference today. SP state president and MLA Abu Asim Azmi, BSP's MP and national general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Ashok Siddharth and BSP state president Anil Sakhre will represent their respective parties.

Sources said SP had been demanding seats from the Congress and NCP in an extended alliance in Maharashtra. The party was willing to take a position different from that in UP where it has entered into a pact with BSP and would be seen in a three-way fight with the Congress and BJP.

But, in Maharashtra, since the deal did not work in SP's favour, it chose to partner with BSP, which has been claiming a significant share of votes though it hasn't won a Lok Sabha seat.

With Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi having a Muslim-dominated AIMIM and Prakash Ambedkar-led Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh in its pack, and now SP-BSP in the fray, Dalits and Muslims will have more options in the polls.

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