Lucknow: BJP may spare 60 to 70 seats for its allies in Uttar Pradesh elections, more than double the number they contested in the 2022 state polls, sources in the party have hinted.BJP may thus contest on 330-340 seats, sizeably down from 376 seats it contested in the 2022 elections and gave 27 seats to two allies — Apna Dal (Sonelal) and NISHAD Party. AD (S) contested on 17 seats and won 12 seats, while NISHAD Party contested on 10 seats and won six.This time, the number of BJP allies has doubled with Jayant Chaudhary’s Rashtriya Lok Dal and OP Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party joining the saffron bandwagon after snapping ties with Samajwadi Party.As an SP ally in 2022, RLD had contested on 33 seats and won eight seats. SBSP had contested 19 seats but won only six.A formal blueprint of the seat-sharing arrangement is expected to be rolled out by the party high command in the coming days. Sources said home minister Amit Shah and BJP president Nitin Nabin have already started engaging with the allies to finalise the seat-sharing deal.The spotlight will be on RLD and SBSP which joined NDA just before the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. While RLD contested on two Lok Sabha seats and won both, SBSP had fielded party chief OP Rajbhar’s son Arvind from Ghosi but he lost.RLD has been making efforts to expand base beyond its traditional stronghold of west UP and foray into eastern UP. Sources said the party has been allying closely with BJP to put up a show of unity, especially in the west UP region. RLD state president Aeshwarya Raj Singh said the party expects a “respectable” number of seats from BJP.“Our objective is to work closely with the BJP in all 403 seats,” he told TOI. RLD sources said the party has been pitching for contesting between 20 and 25 seats, primarily in the west UP region.SBSP too has been pushing hard to stake claim on “good number” of seats. SBSP national general secretary Arvind Rajbhar told TOI that the party has been preparing the ground on at least 85 seats and expects around 25 seats to contest on. Sources, however, indicated that Rajbhar’s party may be restricted to 20 seats.Sources said BJP may allow some candidates of its allies to contest the 2027 Assembly elections on the party symbol.UP BJP spokesperson Anand Dubey said the decision to finalise the seat-sharing arrangement would be taken soon by the party high command. “The allies will be given a respectable share,” he said.By conceding 60-70 seats, experts said, BJP will aim to signal its willingness to sacrifice a larger number of constituencies to retain and expand its social coalition. While Apna Dal (S) and NISHAD Party are established NDA partners, RLD and SBSP bring additional caste and regional networks. RLD can help BJP consolidate Jat support and strengthen its position in western UP, while SBSP could prove useful in the Rajbhar-dominated pockets of eastern UP.This is particularly significant after the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, when the party faced setbacks in several constituencies with substantial OBC and Dalit populations, amid the opposition’s narrative of Pichhda, Dalit, Alpsankhyak (PDA), which dented BJP tally in the 2024 LS polls in UP.
