Bihar developments will have zero impact on 2024 Lok Sabha polls in UP: Keshav Maurya
Deputy Chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya said the political developments in Bihar will have “zero” impact on the 2024 general elections in Uttar Pradesh and exuded confidence that the BJP will wrest Congress and SP bastions.
He also dismissed the possibility of an opposition alliance posing a challenge to the BJP, saying such efforts in the past have yielded no result.
Targeting Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar over his “vishwasghat” (betrayal) with the BJP, Maurya said that by joining hands with the RJD and the Congress in Bihar, he has positioned himself in a difficult situation.
JD(U) leader Kumar took oath as Bihar chief minister for a record eighth time on August 10, a day after snapping ties with the BJP-led NDA and joining hands with the RJD to form a ‘Mahagathbandhan’ government.
This was the second time in eight years that Kumar split with the BJP.
The political developments in Bihar will have “zero impact” on the Lok Sabha elections in Uttar Pradesh, Maurya told PTI in an interview.
“UP and Bihar share the border and a number of times, when there was no alliance (of the JDU) with the BJP (in UP)… Nitishji used all his might and fielded some candidates but they forfeited their deposits,” he said.
Asked about the challenge from a proposed opposition front to counter the BJP, Maurya said, “It happened in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections when SP, BSP, RLD and Congress came together against BJP.
“In the 2022 state polls, they contested separately but there was a tacit understanding between them. Despite that, the BJP emerged victorious and formed the government.”
He, however, acknowledged that the Congress could put up a fight against the BJP in the 2024 general elections.
“Whatever little challenge the BJP will face across the country in 2024, it will be from the Congress,” he said.
Maurya asserted the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress will lose their strongholds in the 2024 elections.
“Mark my words, be it Kannauj, Azamgarh, Rampur or Mainpuri, the SP will be unable to open its account in the state this time,” he said.
News Mania Desk
