Monday, May 06, 2024 | Last Update : 09:07 AM IST
Lalu Yadav, SP to help Mayawati win seat in RS in 2018?
The May 26 meeting was the first time the BSP chief has expressed her commitment to the cause of Opposition unity.
New Delhi: Amid the newfound bonhomie among Opposition parties after the drubbing in the recent Assembly polls in five states, efforts are on to get top leaders like Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati elected to the Rajya Sabha for another term to retain the upper hand the parties have in the Upper House. The NDA now has 74 members and the UPA 73 members in the Rajya Sabha, while 88 seats are held by other parties.
Ms Mayawati, who got only 19 seats in the UP Assembly polls, despite the BSP getting 22 per cent of voteshare, does not have a single MP in the Lok Sabha as well. Therefore, when her term expires in April next year, the BSP chief cannot get back into the Upper House on her own strength.
However, at the recent lunch hosted for the Opposition parties by Congress president Sonia Gandhi, sources told this newspaper that none other than Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad Yadav had offered to send Ms Mayawati back to the Rajya Sabha from Bihar. There are six Rajya Sabha seats that will fall vacant in Bihar, out of which the RJD can have two seats in its kitty.
Sources said that Mr Yadav also urged Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav and Ms Mayawati to come together and hold joint rallies and programmes to signal a new alliance in Uttar Pradesh to take on the BJP. Both leaders have confirmed that they will take part in Mr Lalu Yadav’s August rally in Patna.
The May 26 meeting was the first time the BSP chief has expressed her commitment to the cause of Opposition unity. She said that contrary to the public perception, she was “100 per cent” with the other Opposition parties.
Sources, however, said at first efforts would be made to get Ms Mayawati elected from Uttar Pradesh itself with the Samajwadi Party’s help. The SP, which has 47 seats in the UP Assembly, can get two members in the Upper House. Combined with the BSP, it can help Ms Maywati get into the Upper House.
Talks are on among the Opposition parties to join forces for an Opposition alliance to take on the BJP in the 2019 general election and the coming presidential election in July, where they are planning to field a joint candidate. This is being seen as a stepping stone to an eventual alliance ahead of the Lok Sabha polls.
