2022 vs 2027: Seat-sharing arithmetic
Lucknow: BJP may spare 60 to 70 seats for its allies in Uttar Pradesh elections, more than double the number they contested in the 2022 state polls, sources in the party have hinted. BJP may thus contest on 330-340 seats, sizeably down from 376 seats it contested in the 2022 elections and gave 27 seats to two allies — Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD Party. AD (S) contested on 17 seats and won 12 seats, while NISHAD Party contested on 10 seats and won six.
This time, the number of BJP allies has doubled with Jayant Chaudhary ’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party joining the saffron bandwagon after snapping ties with Samajwadi Party.
The spotlight will be on RLD and SBSP which joined NDA just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. This is particularly significant after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the party faced setbacks in several constituencies with substantial OBC and Dalit populations, amid the opposition’s narrative of Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (PDA), which dented BJP tally in the 2024 LS polls in UP. SBSP had fielded party chief OP Rajbhar’s son Arvind from Ghosi but he lost While RLD contested on two Lok Sabha seats and won both.
Sources said home minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin have already started engaging with the allies to finalise the seat-sharing deal. Sources said the party has been allying closely with BJP to put up a show of unity, especially in the west UP region. RLD state president Aeshwarya Raj Singh said the party expects a “respectable” number of seats from BJP.
A formal blueprint of the seat-sharing arrangement is expected to be rolled out by the party high command in the coming days. RLD has been making efforts to expand base beyond its traditional stronghold of west UP and foray into eastern UP.