New Delhi: The Congress and the Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) may have been playing hard to get with each other over the last few months but sources said, the two are on the verge of finalising a seat-sharing agreement for the three states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh - that go to polls towards the end of 2018.
Sources said Congress General Secretary Ashok Gehlot is representing the Grand Old Party in the negotiations while the BSP is represented by Mayawati's trusted lieutenant Satish Chandra Mishra. The Congress has agreed to leave around 5-6 seats in each state for the BSP. However, Mayawati is not content with the number of seats and is said to be lobbying for a greater share of the pie in these states.
Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh are due in November-December 2018, less than six months ahead of the big Lok Sabha battle in 2019. To secure its position as the lynchpin of an anti-BJP grand alliance, the Congress is looking to win all three states.
In such a scenario, it can’t afford to have the BSP eat into its vote share. Meanwhile, the Congress is also looking to woo the BSP and SP ahead of 2019 to stitch a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, where the BJP and its allies had won 73 out of 80 seats in 2014.
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