JOIN USAllies demand their pound of flesh as BJP fights desertions in Uttar Pradesh
Already pushed on the backfoot following desertions of several senior OBC, Dalit and Brahmin leaders ahead of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP's trouble has been compounded by its allies, who have upped the ante and have been demanding their pound of flesh from the saffron party.
BJP's allies, Apna Dal, Nishad Party and some other smaller outfits, have been exerting pressure on the BJP to give them more seats in the polls and many of them have even threatened to ditch the alliance if their demands were not met.
Nishad Party (NP), which claims to represent the 'Nishad' OBC community comprising fishermen and boatmen, managed to get 15 seats from the BJP after it threatened to leave the alliance and join the Samajwadi Party (SP)-led alliance.
''In normal conditions we would not have given them more than seven-eight seats,'' said a senior UP BJP leader while speaking to DH here adding that the BJP could not afford to lose any more allies, especially those representing the OBCs.
Similarly, the Apna Dal (AD), which enjoys considerable influence among the electorally influential 'Kurmi' community, has also been demanding two dozen seats from the BJP. ''We have no choice but to concede their demand....it is likely that they will get at least more than 11 seats. which they were given in the previous polls,'' the BJP leader said.
UP BJP president Swatantra Dev Singh had held a meeting with his party's alliance partners, which also included Bhartiya Manav Samaj Party, Shoshit Samaj Party, Prithviraj Janshakti Party, Musahar Andolan Manch and some others a few days back to discuss seat sharing.
According to the sources, the representatives of these smaller parties expressed their resentment over what they termed ''preferential treatment'' meted out to NP and AD by the BJP. ''We have other options.....we will walk out of the alliance if adequate number of seats are given to us,'' said one of their representative.
As many as three former ministers and eight MLAs had resigned from the BJP and joined the SP in the past few days.
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