NEW DELHI – Two regional parties that were former bitter rivals announcedan unlikely alliance Saturday to fight Indian Prime Minister NarendraModi’s ruling Hindu nationalist party in a looming general election.
The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) — key playersin the northern state of Uttar Pradesh — said they would set aside theirdifferences to jointly fight Modi in the bedrock state.
The two central-left parties have widespread support among lower castes andpoor voters across the state — India’s most populous, with 220 millionpeople.
Uttar Pradesh is a bellwether of national politics, accounting for 80 ofthe 552 members ofparliament in New Delhi. An election is expected to be held in April andMay and one recent poll indicatedModi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) may fall short of a majority.
Akhilesh Yadav, the Samajwadi Party head, said the alliance would counterthe “divisivepolitics” of the BJP, which won a landslide victory in 2014.
“The BJP is dividing the country, it is stoking fear and hatred amongcommunities,” Yadavtold a news conference sat alongside Mayawati, a popular low-caste leaderwho heads the BSP.
The parties, which will contest 38 seats each out of the state’s 80, leftthe main oppositionCongress party out of the alliance.
The two have been fierce rivals in recent years. They teamed up in 1993 andformed theUttar Pradesh state government but relations soured after Mayawati said shewas assaulted bySamajwadi Party activists in 1995.
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Modi’s BJP suffered a rare reverse when it lost three key state electionsto Congress lastmonth, amid discontent over unemployment and economic inequality.
A BJP spokesman played down the importance of the alliance.
“We are confident. Even if all the parties come together, we will stillwin,” SudhanshuTrivedi told reporters in Delhi where the BJP is holding a key convention.
Modi rallied 10,000 party workers at the convention, dismissing critics whosay his policiesharm the poor.
“During our time there has not been a single corruption allegation againstus,” he said “Webelieve in treating everyone equally and taking the country on the path ofdevelopment.” – APP/AFP
