Belying all expectations, the Bahujan Samaj Party, Samajwadi Party and the Congress are unlikely to join forces for the Phulpur by-poll, as sources indicate that the SP is trying to convince BSP rebel Indrajeet Saroj, who will join them soon, to fight from the seat.
Phulpur was vacated after Keshav Prasad Maurya, the incumbent, entered the Yogi Adityanath government as Deputy Chief Minister.
Mr. Saroj, a former Minister and four-term MLA, was expelled on August 4 after he accused party chief Mayawati of extorting money from leaders and directing every MLA as well as defeated candidates to collect Rs. 9-22 lakh from every constituency. He lost the 2017 election by a small margin. He confirmed that he would be joining the SP soon, but denied that he would be contesting the Phulpur by-poll.
He said if SP president Akhilesh Yadav desired, he would contest the 2019 Lok Sabha election but from Mohanlalganj. “Why will I fight for just one year? If it is Akhilesh Yadavji’s wish, I will contest from Mohanlalganj in 2019 or the Vidhan Sabha election in 2022 from my traditional seat Manjhanpur,” Mr. Saroj told The Hindu .
Ms. Mayawati is expected to fight the bypolls after her sudden resignation from Rajya Sabha in July. She has not yet made it official.
The Phulpur bypoll was widely expected to be the first experiment of a joint Opposition unity ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls and which would have set tone for a wider collaboration.
BSP chief selfish: rebel
Mr. Saroj is not too hopeful that his former leader Ms. Mayawati would align with Mr. Yadav. Calling her “selfish,” he said she was untrustworthy in any alliance. “She will ask for such high number of seats, say 60 out of 80, that an alliance will not be possible,” he said.
India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru represented Phulpur thrice. It is also the seat which saw the first joint Opposition experiment in 1988, when former PM V.P. Singh fought from here.
