The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is planning to offer those Parliamentary seats to its alliance partners where it could not win in 2019.
The number of such seats in UP is 14. There is also a possibility that this time some seats of the alliance partners may be increased.
Apna Dal wants Muslim-dominated seats
BJP’s old ally Apna Dal (S) currently has two Lok Sabha seats–Mirzapur and Sonbhadra. Apna Dal chief and Union Minister Anupriya Patel herself is an MP from Mirzapur. Sources say that now, Apna Dal (S) wants more than two seats. Apart from these two seats, Apna Dal also wants Muslim majority seats in western UP.
Apna Dal (S) candidate had contested in the by-election held recently on the Swar assembly seat which fell vacant after the resignation of Abdullah Azam, son of Mohd. Azam Khan. Muslim candidate Mohammad Shafiq Ansari had won in the by-election from here. Since then, the expectations of Apna Dal (S) have gone up. In Western UP, Sambhal, Amroha, Moradabad, Bijnor, Saharanpur seats have majority of Muslim voters. Now, Apna Dal is staking claim on two of these seats so that it can win these seats.
Nishad party chief said, “Give us the lost seats”.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the Santakbir Nagar seat had come under the quota of the Nishad Party. From here too, Praveen Nishad, son of Dr. Sanjay Nishad, chief of the Nishad Party, fought and won. But Praveen Nishad was fought by BJP on its own symbol lotus. This time, Dr. Sanjay Nishad has proposed to BJP that if he is given two seats out of the lost seats, then he will show it by winning it on his symbol. Apart from Shravasti, Ambedkar Nagar, he is also claiming the Jaunpur seat.
Lost seats can also be given to Rajbhar
Sources say that this time, the alliance of BJP has also been done with Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP). As Om Prakash Rajbhar has good influence on 10 to 15 seats in Purvanchal, the BJP may also give Rajbhar two seats from Ghosi, Ghazipur or Shravasti. Sources say that the BJP will fulfil its quota by fielding allies on the lost seats and the risk of BJP winning its own seat will also be less. A Muslim or any caste candidate can also fight on these seats. In the 2019 elections, UP had won 64 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats. Apna Dal’s two seats are also included in these. The BJP wrested the Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats from the Samajwadi Party in the 2022 by-elections.