AAP heading for alliance with SP for UP polls: Sanjay Singh and Akhilesh Yadav discuss seat-sharing

Aam Aadmi Party on Wednesday said it had begun negotiations with the Samajwadi party to sign an agreement to share seats in the 2022 general elections in Uttar Pradesh.

AAP member Rajya Sabha Sanjay Singh made the announcement after meeting with SP official Akhilesh Yadav in Lucknow. There have been meetings between the two before but talk of possible alliance has been kept under wraps.

Singh and Yadav held an hour-long meeting at the Lohia Trust office in Lucknow on Wednesday. Sanjay Singh had met Akhilesh Yadav about two months ago during the celebration of the birthday of SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

The AAP has tested the water for voting in the 2014 and 2019 parliamentary elections without success.

Akhilesh Yadav, who has traveled extensively, is trying to meet with many regional and minority groups in the province. Akhilesh and Rashtriya Lok Dal chief Jayant Chaudhary on Tuesday met to discuss the sharing of seats in the 2022 Uttar Pradesh convention.

According to sources, Sanjay Singh had a constructive discussion and discussed the election agenda.

Speaking about the possibility of a coalition with AIMIM, Yadav said there would be no talks with the party’s chief executive, Asaduddin Owaisi.

The SP has already closed its alliance with Om Prakash Rajbhar’s Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) – the BJP alliance in the 2017 elections. Along with the SBSP, Bhagidari Sankalp Morcha, a group of small groups led by Rajbhar, will be part of an SP-led coalition.

The AAP has over the past two months released a series of tiranga yatras in several UP cities, including Noida, Agra, Ayodhya and Lucknow. It also announced that if it came into power it would provide farmers with free electricity, with no domestic tariffs of up to 300 units.