Uttar Pradesh election: 'BJP doesn't want alliance with JDU', says KC Tyagi

Janata Dal (United) National Spokesperson KC Tyagi on Sunday confirmed that the party will not be siding with the Bharatiya Janata Party in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections. Speaking to Republic, the JDU leader said that the party’s top brass met and decided to contest the elections alone. He stated that the BJP said that they didn’t want the alliance in the upcoming polls.

Confirming that the JDU will be contesting the Assembly polls alone, KC Tyagi said that the party is confident about the move. He also added that there were no tremors with BJP over the decision. “We are the oldest and most trusted ally of the BJP since the inception of NDA. Last elections also, we contested together. But the day before yesterday we were told that the BJP will only hold an alliance with Apna Dal and Nishad party. Therefore, we decided to go alone.”

The JDU spokesperson added that “the party led by Nitish Kumar went to meet the top brass. We still are trusted allies. However, we will contest the polls alone with our candidates.” Further explaining the situation, he told Republic that, “political alliance needs confirmation from both the sides. BJP doesn’t want an alliance with us in UP.” He also stated that the issues of the farmer’s protest and others remain a factor for the decision. The party spokesperson reiterated that the BJP was interested in holding an alliance only with Apna Dal and Nishad party, which in turn forced the JDU to contest alone.

BJP candidates for phase 1 & 2 for Uttar Pradesh election out

Ahead of the much-anticipated Uttar Pradesh election, the BJP on Saturday released its first list of 105 candidates including Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and Deputy CM KP Maurya. The saffron party has fielded CM Yogi in his Gorakhpur constituency while Deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya will fight from the Sirathu seat in Prayagraj.

The list was released during a press conference by Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan and BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh at the party headquarters in New Delhi. The candidate list includes 57/58 seats in the first phase and 48/55 seats in the second phase of the upcoming elections starting February 10. Of the total 107 seats, 63 sitting MLAs have been given tickets again while 21 new candidates have been fielded in the UP elections. 

Image: REPUBLIC WORLD/ ANI