The Samajwadi Party (SP) on Wednesday announced its 22 more candidates for the next month’s assembly elections in Madhya Pradesh — where its INDIA bloc ally the Congress is in direct contest against the ruling Bharaitya Janata Party (BJP) — amid rumours of strain within the opposition alliance.
The SP has so far announced 31 candidates, including nine declared earlier, to contest the 230-member MP assembly polls scheduled for November 17, with senior party leaders saying more could be named by Thursday.
“Roughly 50 candidates could be declared by tomorrow (Thursday). We might even declare candidates on all the 230 seats. That’s our effort. There is lot of time as nomination filing will close on October 30,” party’s Madhya Pradesh poll in-charge and national executive member Vyasji Gaund said.
The Congress and the SP are the two major partners of the INDIA bloc in Uttar Pradesh that sends 80 MPs to Lok Sabha.
“The Samajwadi Party wanted an electoral understanding with the Congress on some (five to six) seats in MP. But the Congress has not even given the lone seat that the SP had won in the assembly elections earlier,” senior SP leader Rajendra Chaudhary said.
The SP’s announcement came a day after party chief Akhilesh Yadav had asserted that his party would contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}The SP’s announcement came a day after party chief Akhilesh Yadav had asserted that his party would contest all the 80 Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}Though there was no immediate response from the Congress, however, the party’s UP unit chief Ajay Rai on Tuesday said the SP has no support base in Madhya Pradesh. He even pointed out that the only SP legislator in the poll-bound state had joined the BJP. “An electoral understanding will be reached once discussions are held between the two parties at the national level,” Rai had said on Tuesday.