Smaller parties in U.P. wait for Lok Sabha polls to bargain big
The HinduWith an eye on the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, many smaller political parties in Uttar Pradesh have started recalibrating their options after being sidelined by the larger alliance partners namely, the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party, which were giving these sub-regional outfits weightage during the Assembly elections. In the Opposition camp, the SP fought the Vidhan Sabha elections eight months ago in alliance with the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party led by O.P. If Janata Dal led by Nitish Kumar, RJD led by Lalu Prasad Yadav, and the SP form an alliance joined by Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party, it will be a bigger alliance than the one formed by the BJP, I can join that also,” Mr. Rajbhar told The Hindu. With the Lok Sabha polls now 15 months away, it is clear that alliance formation will take a tectonic shift with smaller parties waiting for a better bargaining opportunity.