BSP Likely to Forge an Alliance With Jan Sena Party in Telangana

Lucknow: Amid Jan Sena party chief Pawan Kalyan’s Lucknow visit, political circles are abuzz with Bahujan Samaj Party’s rumoured tie-up with the actor-turned-politician’s party ahead of Telangana assembly elections.

The party chief, who was in the state capital on Wednesday, reportedly met senior BSP leaders days after meeting party chief Mayawati in Delhi.

Jan Sena Party Chief Pawan Kalyan, who is also the younger brother of Telugu star Chiranjeevi, had launched his party in 2014. Pawan met some senior BSP leaders in Lucknow and also visited Dalit memorials in Lucknow, which were built during the BSP regime.

The BSP so far has announced 119 candidates for Telangana state assembly elections which are due on 7th December 2018, but sources suggest if the alliance happens then BSP might vacate some seats for the Jan Sena Party as well. The probable alliance between BSP and Jan Sena Party will definitely be a boost to Mayawati’s efforts to form alliance with more and more regional parties and will also be fruitful for the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections.

BSP Rajya Sabha MP Vir Singh has been given the charge for Telangana assembly elections and the BSP is likely to kick-off campaigning in Telagana from 28th October. Interestingly, in 2014 assembly elections in Telangana, the BSP had won two seats, Sirpur and Nirmal, even after a massive sweep by the TRS.

The Bahujan Samaj Party had recently announced that it will not be sharing seats with Congress in the upcoming state assembly elections in various states. For Chattisgarh, Mayawati has chosen Ajit Jogi’s Janata Congress Chhattisgarh as its alliance partner. Now the BSP is eyeing more regional parties as the state assembly elections are due in Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan, Telangana in the months of November and December.

Last year, BSP had tied up with the Indian National Lok Dal (INLD) in Haryana and the JD (S) in Karnataka. The coalition leaders have agreed to project Mayawati as the PM candidate in the 2019 Lok Sabha election, said a BSP leader.