JD(U) will contest on its own in UP if needed: KC Tyagi

Chief General Secretary of the JD(U) KC Tyagi in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, said that the party will contest in 200 seats in Uttar Pradesh if there is no alliance with the BJP.

New Delhi: KC Tyagi, the Chief General Secretary of Janata Dal (United), which heads the ruling alliance in Bihar, has decided to contest the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, with or without the National Democratic Alliance. The JD(U) leader in an exclusive interview with ETV Bharat, said that they would contest the elections in alliance with the BJP and that talks were held with the UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on the issue. However, if there would be no alliance with the BJP, then JDU will contest on 200 seats, he added.

"We have good relations with Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) but will not form an alliance with them. We will move ahead in alliance with smaller parties. He said that the backward classes in UP did not get the representation they should have got in the UP government. Even in the big decisions of the UP government, the opinion of the backward class is not taken. This has angered the backward classes," the JD(U) leader said, adding that there is resentment among the farmers of UP due to the contentious agricultural laws enacted by the central government.

Read:JDU to contest UP Poll on 200 seats, Opposition says 'pressure politics'

He also went on to say that the Backward classes and farmers together formed the BJP government in UP and Modi's government at the Centre. If JDU will contest elections alone, we will all give more tickets to farmers and backward classes and that since Nitish Kumar is the strongest leader of the backward classes, it would benefit the JD(U) in Uttar Pradesh, Tyagi added, saying that having an alliance with the BJP, would also benefit the latter on a large scale.

KC Tyagi said that the JD(U) fought many assembly and Lok Sabha elections in UP together with the BJP and that the JD(U) MPs have been MLAs and ministers in the government in UP. But it has been a month since there has been a reply from the BJP regarding the alliance, he added. It is known that the JD(U) has a good hold on the Kurmi Kushwaha vote bank and according to Tyagi, their number in UP is about 15 percent. At the same time, though BJP claims it has its vote bank, JD(U) contesting on 200 seats might dent BJP's chances in the elections.