Those aware of the developments in Lucknow said engagement between the two parties at the highest level is set to continue.
A 40-minute conversation in Lucknow Wednesday evening between the chiefs of the SP and BSP, in the afterglow of the victories in Gorakhpur and Phulpur, appears to have resulted in broad contours of an electoral understanding between the two parties.
Those aware of the developments in Lucknow said engagement between the two parties at the highest level is set to continue.
Sources told The Indian Express that the two sides have broadly agreed to the principle of “equal seats” for the two big parties as the basis for fighting Lok Sabha polls due in 2019 — speaking in Chandigarh Thursday, Mayawati said the bypoll results have made the BJP “lose its sleep” and “there is every possibility” that the Lok Sabha polls may be advanced.
Read | BJP may go for early Lok Sabha polls after defeat, says Mayawati
The exact number of seats to be fought by each party, sources said, would depend on the broadest possible alliance being stitched by these two parties. Uttar Pradesh has 80 seats, of which the BJP-led NDA has 71 — even after losing Gorakhpur and Phulpur.
The next test for the two erstwhile regional rivals is set to be the bypoll in Kairana in western UP, a seat that fell vacant after the death of its BJP MP, Hukum Singh, in February. There are indications that a candidate fielded by the BSP will fight that election, with SP support. In the bypolls just held, the BSP did not field any candidate and extended support to SP candidates in Phulpur and Gorakhpur.
Sources said that “contact” and phone conversations between Akhilesh and Mayawati were on since early February. The decision to fight the bypolls together was, however, finalised after the results of the elections in the North-East. The BJP managed to form governments in all three states that voted and this set off alarm bells. The announcement of a “limited alliance” between BSP and SP was made on March 4.
On Thursday morning, Akhilesh called the bypoll results a victory for “ekta” or unity. The BSP has been wary of alliances in the past, concluding that transfer of its votes benefits its alliance partner much more than the BSP.
The question whether merely an ‘arithmetic’ will suffice to challenge the BJP is something that has been debated between the two sides since February, but the conclusion so far is to get the ‘arithmetic’ in place first, so that other things can then flow — and allow the idea to take root that the BJP can be defeated.