SP-BSP to hold joint rallies in for Lok Sabha Polls

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the BSP will hold a series of joint rallies for the Lok Sabha polls, with the first being on April 7 in Uttar Pradesh’s Deoband town.nnThe general election is going to start on April 11 and will continue till May 19. Polling on the 80 seats in the state will be held in seven phases.nnThere will be several joint rallies in the state and besides the SP and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) will be also part of these public meeting, Samajwadi Party chief spokesman Rajendra Chowdhury said.nnThe first of these joint rallies will be held in Saharanpur district’s Deoband town on April 7 and will be addressed by SP president Akhilesh Yadav, BSP chief Mayawati and RLD president Ajit Singh, he said here.nnThe dates for the other rallies will be declared later, Chowdhury saidnnOn Wednesday, Yadav had met Mayawati and discussed about their campaign with joint rallies during Navratra, which begins on April 6, the spokesperson said.nnSpeaking to reporters at the SP office here, Yadav said,” We are declaring candidates separately on seats finalised by us (SP-BSP) and the first rally (with Mayawati) is planned during Navratra from West Uttar Pradesh.”nnWhen asked about the possibility of an alliance with the Congress in Uttar Pradesh for the polls, he said, “It’s too late now. We have finalised our seats.”nnThe SP and BSP, which announced an alliance in January, will field 37 and 38 seats respectively. The RLD, which is also a part of the alliance, will fight from three seats.nnOn the BJP’s claim of winning more than 73 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in the state, the Yadav said, “They must be giving this number (of seats) from the entire country.”nnThe SP leader said the alliance between his party, the BSP and the RLD was “an alliance of ideologies and people of the state will certainly ensure its success by giving support to its candidates.nnSource: Press Trust of India