Quarreling in UP: RLD requests two extra seats from SP after LS is allotted seven

LUCKNOW: Negotiations for seat distribution within the INDIA bloc in UP for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections seem distant from finding a resolution amid the significant political turmoil that is taking place in Bihar, according to sources. The Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), headed by Jayant Chaudhary, has reportedly asked for a larger share of the seven seats that coalition partner Samajwadi Party (SP) recently allotted.

After Akhilesh Yadav, the head of the SP, declared 11 seats for the Congress, the latter confirmed that negotiations were still ongoing. It has now come to light that RLD has agreed to let SP candidates run for at least two more seats in exchange for their rights. According to experts, RLD’s alleged readiness to accept SP candidates on its ticket brings back memories of the 2018 Kairana bypolls, in which Tabassum Begum of the SP ran on an RLD ticket and defeated Mriganka Singh of the BJP to win. Voter split was avoided by other parties abstaining from running, such as the Congress and BSP.
This is on top of the seven seats that Jayant and Akhilesh decided to finalize; the precise constituencies are unknown. According to sources, RLD has already started construction in Mathura, Baghpat, Muzzaffarnagar, Kairana, Hathras, Bijnor, and Amroha.