The Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) have agreed on a 4-44 seat-sharing formula in Maharashtra for the general elections. Of the four seats the SP is likely to contest, one is in Mumbai.

The two parties have formed an alliance in Uttar Pradesh, but in Maharashtra, the SP was initially keen on contesting with the Congress. The SP had demanded one seat in the Mumbai region — either Mumbai South, Mumbai South Central, Bhiwandi, Mumbai North West or Mumbai North Central.

But the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) refused to cede any of these seats to the SP, and instead gave it the option of contesting either from Mumbai North or Jalna. The SP was thus left to explore the only remaining option, the BSP, which had already announced that it would contest all 48 seats in Maharashtra.

Last week, the two parties held a press conference to announce their alliance not only for the Lok Sabha elections, but also for the Assembly poll. For the LS polls, the SP will be contesting from Mumbai North West, Bhiwandi, Beed and Nanded. The rest will be fought by the BSP.

Asked about candidates, SP corporator Rais Shaikh said, “We are giving a chance to locals. They may not be prominent names but have a standing in their areas.”

In Mumbai North West, which consists of Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Juhu, Vile Parle (West), the SP candidate will fight against the Shiv Sena-BJP alliance’s candidate and sitting MP Gajanan Kirtikar. The Congress-NCP alliance has still not officially declared its candidate for this seat.

BSP’s Maharashtra unit chief Suresh Sakhare confirmed that the party will be contesting from 44 seats and will come out with a final list soon.

BSP chief Mayawati will kick off the campaign in Maharashtra at a rally in Nagpur on April 4. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav is also expected to attend.