UP Assembly polls 2022: BJP to jointly contest with Apna Dal and Nishad Party

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday finalised its candidate list for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly election and said it will contest the polls in alliance with the Apna Dal and Nishad Party.

The announcement on part of the saffron camp was made by its national president JP Nadda, following the conclusion of a BJP central election committee (CEC) meeting earlier in the day.

Addressing a press conference, Nadda said, “NDA allies are contesting together just like we did in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP, Apna Dal, and Nishad Party will jointly contest polls on 403 seats in the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls.”

The BJP national president said detailed discussions regarding seat-sharing for the upcoming polls were held with the two parties during the past few days.

Dr Jamuna Prasad Saroj, the state president of Apna Dal, had reached Delhi on Tuesday to hold the final round of meeting with the BJP top brass for seat-sharing in upcoming polls. Apna Dal president Anupriya Patel and Ashish Patel had also attended the meeting, according to news agency ANI.

Apna Dal functionaries told ANI the party hopes to get double the number of seats this time as compared to previous elections in which they had contested 11 seats.

According to people familiar with the matter, the party has its eyes set on seats such as Kanpur, Mauranipur, Jhansi, Nanpara, Bahraich, Sewapuri Rohaniya Pindra in Banaras, Sorao Handia in Allahabad, Shohratgarh in Gorakhpur, Nautanwa, Kushinagar, and some other seats from Lucknow to Mohanlalganj.

Last week, the BJP had released its first list of 107 candidates for the first and second phase of the upcoming assembly polls. Besides, it said Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath will contest from Gorakhpur.

Elections for the 403 Assembly constituencies in Uttar Pradesh will be held in seven phases starting February 10. The counting of votes will take place on March 10.