Ahead of 2019 elections, Congress, RJD gear up to join SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh

With 2019 Lok Sabha elections just a few months away, opposition parties like the Congress, Akhilesh Yadav's Samajwadi Party, Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party and the RJD under the leadership of Ajit Singh are gearing up to forge a grand alliance to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Meanwhile, the latest report, published in NDTV suggests that a broad agreement has already been worked out between the four parties to weed out the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government from Uttar Pradesh. However, the seat-sharing arrangements among the coalition parties will be decided later, the report added.

The idea of a common front in Uttar Pradesh is in pipeline ever since the by-elections result in the high-profile seats like Gorakhpur and Phulpur, and later Kairana and Noorpur came as a big blow for the ruling BJP. The Saffron party's by-poll losses were simply a reminder of what a united opposition can do.

Read | Mamata Banerjee’s first response on being Opposition’s PM face in 2019

The Congress, however, is yet to looped into the idea of forming a grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh, a source close to the development added.

Another alliance is also in talks between the Congress and Mayawati's BSP, especially for the three key states going to polls at the end of 2018- Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh.

While the BSP chief demanded 50 of the 230 seats in Madhya Pradesh, the Congress offered her 22 and did not agree to go beyond 30. "It has to be a formidable alliance to take on the BJP and not one that would ensure a revolt in both parties and help the BJP," a leader told NDTV.

Read | Mamata likely to meet Sonia Gandhi, invite her to Federal Front Rally in Kolkata

On the other hand, the BSP and Akhilesh's Samajwadi Party have a broad adjustment with each other and will give seats to Ajit Singh's party from the SP quota.

The Congress has already finalised its alliances for Jharkhand, Maharashtra, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Kerala. Apart from local JMM, M Karunanidhi's DMK, Lalu Yadav's RJD, several smaller parties are also expected to be part of the alliance.