NEW DELHI: Ahead of the big-ticket Lok Sabha election faceoff that is due in a year, BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday agreed an alliance between Uttar Pradesh’s two regional heavyweights, Mayawati’s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party (SP), would be a challenge for his party.
He, however, asserted the BJP will defeat the Congress either in Amethi or Rae Bareli — the pocket borough of the Grand Old Party’s first family.
“If the BSP and the SP strike an alliance for the polls, it would be a challenge to us… But, we are sure that we will win either one seat, Amethi or Rae Bareli,” he said while talking to media persons on the occasion of the completion of four years of the Narendra Modi government.
While the two regional parties have individually led the UP government for years, they faced a crushing defeat in last year’s Assembly polls. Wiser after the rout, the erstwhile arch enemies joined hands in March, with the BSP supporting SP’s candidates in the Gorakhpur and Phulpur Lok Sabha bypolls as quid pro quo for a Rajya Sabha berth.
Shah on Friday said he was sure the BJP will win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, since the party had the support of 22 crore families that benefitted from the schemes of the Narendra Modi government in the last four years.
“As many as 22 crore families are with us in the last four years of the government. We will win the 2019 polls,” he said.
On the party’s relationship with old ally Shiv Sena, the BJP chief said he did not want to give up the alliance, but said it was up to the Sena to take the call.“In 2019, the BJP will fight with the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra. We don’t want to oust them from the NDA. But if they go out, it’s their will. We are ready for any situation,” he said.
Dismissing the strengthening index of Opposition unity that was showcased in Karnataka, Shah said it would hardly work. He said Opposition parties were aligning with like-minded parties as they feel they may not be able to defeat the NDA in 2019 on their own.
“In the 2014 Lok Sabha polls also, they all fought against us, but they failed. They all have their presence in their respective states. Even if they come together they won’t be able to defeat us,” he said.