The Samajwadi Party (SP) has threatened to contest on its own if the Congress-NCP alliance does not give it one Lok Sabha seat in the upcoming elections as part of the Opposition’s coalition.

“The Congress should have the magnanimity as shown by the SP and BSP in Uttar Pradesh. We left two seats for the Congress and they should leave at least one for us in Maharashtra,” said state SP chief Abu Azmi.

He said he has already given various choices like Mumbai North East, Mumbai North West, Bhiwandi or Nanded to the Congress-NCP alliance. “We have the strength to win these seats and one should be allotted to us,” said Azmi.

He warned that the SP will be forced to contest alone if its demands are not met. “The Congress-NCP should not accuse us of splitting secular votes as we have been highly accommodating and our ultimate aim is to defeat the communal BJP-Shiv Sena,” he added. He also warned against getting the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) on board, saying he will campaign against the Congress in the northern states.

For years, the SP has been cutting into Congress-NCP votes but of late, it has been significantly marginalised. The SP, which boasted of a Muslim vote-bank, was challenged by the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) led by the Owaisi brothers. In the 2014 Maharashtra assembly elections, the AIMIM won two seats while the SP won one—Mankhurd-Shivaji Nagar constituency — represented by Azmi.

First Published: Feb 20, 2019 12:56 IST