http://www.india.com/…/sp-bsp-back-meira-kumar-consolidate…/

SP, BSP back Meira Kumar, consolidate anti-BJP forces in UP
Lucknow, Jun 25 (PTI)

The coming together of archrivals BSP and SP to support the candidature
of Meira Kumar as president could be a crucial step towards further
consolidating anti-BJP forces in Uttar

Lucknow, Jun 25 (PTI) The
coming together of archrivals BSP and SP to support the candidature of
Meira Kumar as president could be a crucial step towards further
consolidating anti-BJP forces in Uttar Pradesh, say political observers.

Struggling to regain lost ground after the near washout in the recent
assembly elections with the BJP making deep inroads into their
respective bastions, the SP and the BSP have found in the presidential
election another opportunity to come on the same page.

Though
their value of votes is unlikely to make either NDA candidate Ram Nath
Kovind win or bolster Kumar’s prospects, their joint support for the
opposition-backed candidate will drive home the message that forces
opposed to the saffron party were coming together.

This,
political observers feel, is likely to pave the way for other
like-minded parties to join hands ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

“This shows that the opposition is forced to come together as they are realising their strength is in unity…

“There is also pressure from the public who have started saying that
all anti-BJP parties should come together on one platform,”

Only
too aware of the drubbing they faced and the acute necessity for
drastic steps to counter the saffron surge, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and
BSP supremo Mayawati have already decided to share a platform at a rally
organised by the Lalu Prasad-led RJD in Patna on August 27.

The
thaw between the two could also prompt a repeat of a Bihar-like
experiment in UP politics and subsequently at the national level with
all parties opposed to the BJP aligning on one agenda.

“It is
becoming clearer with every passing day that democracy is under siege
and all those who want to see democracy survive and the Indian
Constitution prevail will have to come together as the threat which is
looming is much greater than the Emergency…,” said Ramesh Dixit,
political scientist and former head of the political science department
of Lucknow University.

Referring to the dismal showing of all
anti-BJP parties in the assembly polls, Dixit said, “No one can dispute
that had they fought elections together, the results would have been
different.”

The SP and the BSP, it seemed, had parted ways for
life after the State Guest House case of 1995 when Mayawati alleged that
an attempt was made on her life. But with SP patriarch Mulayam Singh
Yadav, who was at the helm of affairs then, now on the sidelines with
son Akhilesh leading the party, it would be easier for Mayawati to build
bridges.

The father and son, it is learnt, are also opposed to
each other on the issue of the presidential election and this could also
come help Mayawati soften her posture towards her adversary.

The
SP and the BSP together make a formidable alliance with the
consolidation of SC/ST and backward votes which could effectively
checkmate the BJP and both are aware that they need some strong ground
to face the BJP challenge, say experts.

The BSP won only 19 seats
in 2017 assembly in the 403- member House, down from 80 in 2012. This
is its lowest tally since 1991, when the party won 12 seats. The SP won
47, its lowest tally since the party s inception in 1992.

The BJP
cornered 40 per cent of the votes polled, a jaw-dropping increase of 25
per cent since last time, grabbing along with its NDA partners 325
seats.

As the BJP’s unprecedented tally dwarfed the opposition,
which has together been reduced to less than 75 seats, calls for an
alliance between the SP and the BSP have grown louder.

Before the
start of their hostility, the SP and the BSP had contested the 1993 UP
Assembly elections together — the BSP contested 164 seats and won 67
while the SP fought 256 seats and bagged 109.

The government was
formed with Mulayam Singh as the chief minister. The relationship,
however, turned sour and the BSP withdrew support. Mayawati went on to
form the government with the help of the BJP in 1995.

But then, as they say, there are no permanent friends and no permanent enemies either in politics.

All the anti-BJP parties accounting 99% of the voters must and should
insist that Ballot Papers have to be used in all future elections as
being done in 80 democracies of the world