Akhilesh Yadav: BJP's seat-sharing plan for allies will fail as people reject party

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav claimed on Tuesday, Aug 18 that the BJP was working out a seat-sharing arrangement for its allies ahead of the next Uttar Pradesh assembly elections, but said the move would fail because people had "completely rejected" the ruling party.

In a post on X, Yadav said the BJP was considering giving 73 seats to the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), 39 to the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP), 31 to the Nishad Party and 19 to Apna Dal, reportedly on the advice of election strategists. Uttar Pradesh has 403 assembly seats.

Yadav said the proposed arrangement might look "commendable" on paper, but the allocation still fell short of half the representation due to the state's PDA (Pichhda, Dalit and Alpsankhyak) population.

He said the plan would fail given the government's record on "corruption, inflation, unemployment, education, healthcare, electricity, roads and recruitment."

Yadav further accused the BJP and its allies of resorting to false cases and fake encounters, demolishing homes and shops with bulldozers, failing to protect farmers, workers and professionals, and undermining reservation in recruitment.

He also alleged the government had weakened the morale of job aspirants through the short-term Agniveer recruitment scheme, failed to respect science and scientists, and was "selling the country's assets." Yadav claimed there was also a conspiracy to amend the Constitution.

"People have completely rejected the BJP and its allies. They are eager to bid them farewell forever," he said. "Everyone says today, we do not want the BJP."

Responding, Uttar Pradesh BJP vice-president Neeraj Singh told PTI that Yadav "loves spreading fake news."

"Akhilesh ji, we all know how much you love spreading fake news. But at least by your own admission, it is clear that the BJP and its allies are together ahead of the 2027 Uttar Pradesh polls — unlike your party, which is struggling to keep its own MLAs together," he said. "Don't bother about our seat-sharing formula; our leadership is more than capable of handling that. Focus on your party. When the elections are over, you will get to read real news. The writing is on the wall — brace for a rout."

In a separate X post, RLD leader Rohit Agarwal, citing sources, claimed the Samajwadi Party and Congress had forged an alliance for the 2027 polls and would contest an equal number of seats. "It means Samajwadi Party is giving 200 seats to the Congress," he claimed.

In a pointed remark, Minister and Apna Dal (S) leader Ashish Patel told PTI: "Apna Dal is a party of cadre who engage in grassroots politics. We don't engage in the politics of tweets and retweets from AC rooms."