Mayawati eyes 40 Lok Sabha seats for BSP in alliance

Lucknow: Lucknow, June 2: After telling her party workers last week that the BSP would opt for an alliance only if the terms were ‘respectable’, Ms Mayawati has not given clear indications that she would not accept ‘anything less than 40 out of 80 seats’ in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The Samajwadi Party is laying claim to a minimum of 39 seats — the party has 8 seats in the 16th Lok Sabha and had ranked second in 31 seats in 2014, whereas the BSP did not win even a single seat but ranked second in 34 seats.

Though the two party presidents have not yet come around to actually discussing seat sharing, BSP sources said that Ms Mayawati would not settle for anything less than 40 seats for the BSP.

According to sources, Ms Mayawati is unwilling to concede ground and wants that if seats are to be given to RLD and Congress, then SP should give them from its share.

Ms Mayawati is aware that a combined SP-BSP, has pulled off a spectacular victory in by-elections in Gorakhpur, Phulpur, and Kairana Lok Sabha seats, and also on Noorpur assembly seat.

Though the BSP did not contest the by-elections, she knows that other opposition parties are keener than her to keep the opposition alliance intact, and she is not totally wrong too. The SP, Congress and RLD are banking on BSP support to defeat the BJP in the upcoming elections.