The Hindu : National : Mayawati, Bhajan Lal forge alliance for Haryana polls

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Mayawati, Bhajan Lal forge alliance for Haryana polls

Special Correspondent

Haryana Janhit Congress will contest 50 seats, BSP 40

Photo: PTI

NEW ALLIES: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati with Haryana Janhit Congress chief Bhajan Lal (centre) and his son Kuldeep Bishnoi at a press conference in Lucknow on Thursday.

LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party on Thursday clinched a new agreement with the Haryana Janhit Congress (HJC) of Chaudhary Bhajan Lal for the forthcoming Haryana Assembly elections.

Announcing this at a press conference here, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and BSP supremo Mayawati said that under the agreement, of the 90 Vidhan Sabha seats, Mr. Bhajan Lal’s party would contest 50 seats and the BSP the remaining 40.

Ms. Mayawati said that if the BSP-HJC alliance is able to form the next government in Haryana, Mr. Bhajan Lal’s son, HJC president Kuldeep Bishnoi, would be the Chief Minister. The Deputy Chief Minister would be from the BSP and would be a member of a Scheduled Caste.

The BSP president said the agreement would extend up to the next Lok Sabha elections. While the BSP would contest six of the ten Lok Sabha seats from Haryana, the remaining four seats would be contested by the Haryana party, she added.

Stating that Haryana had a special significance in the country’s politics, the UP Chief Minister said Mr. Bhajan Lal’s decision to enter into an electoral understanding was in tune with the BSP’s emphasis on “sarv samaj”. After long years in the Congress, Mr. Bhajan Lal had left the party as he was opposed to the policies of the Congress, the Chief Minister added.

Ms. Mayawati said that during his stint as Haryana Chief Minister Mr. Bhajan Lal had upheld the interest of “sarv samaj”.

Mr. Bhajan Lal, who was present, said he welcomed the agreement. Mr. Kuldeep Bishnoi thanked the BSP president and the party general secretary, Satish Chandra Mishra, for the poll pact.

Ms. Mayawati’s decision to go in for the poll pact with the Haryana Janhit Congress marks a clear departure from her decision to go it alone in the recent Lok Sabha elections.

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