Newly-appointed UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday ruled out alliance with any political party, including the Ajit Singh-led RLD, for the upcoming state Assembly elections in February next ye
Newly-appointed UP BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on Sunday ruled out alliance with any political party, including the Ajit Singh-led RLD, for the upcoming state Assembly elections in February next year. Mr Maurya’s statement has come at a time when Mr Singh is reportedly seeking a tie-up with the BJP to revive his political clout in western UP.
The RLD chief had held a series of meetings with Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and the JD(U) leadership for merger of his party.
However, the Bihar chief minister’s, sources said, refusal to accommodate Mr Singh for Rajya Sabha nomination for the biennial elections for the Upper House next month from the JD(U) quota left him looking for other options. He has been trying to strike an alliance with the BJP lately.
“We don’t need any alliance. We are going to fight with full strength. We will come to power with a big majority without any alliance,” said Mr Maurya.
Incidentally, the BJP, sources said, had told Mr Singh clearly that other than an outright merger of his party with the BJP there exists no other options.
“Lotus bloomed in 73 Lok Sabha seats in UP. I see BJP getting 265 plus seats in the Assembly elections,” said Mr Maurya. He also stated that the parties willing to support the BJP could contest the upcoming elections on its lotus symbol.
While stating that the BJP is not exploring the option for alliance in UP, the state BJP chief said: “If there are parties who want to be associated with BJP, they should not think of an alliance but they can fight on the our symbol.”
Mr Maurya’s statement has apparently closed options available with the RLD chief. Mr Singh so far has done business with all political parties, including the BJP, Congress, and BSP.
