Alliance with Akhilesh up in air, Chandrashekhar Aazad gets set for solo UP run, says Opp ‘not ready to jolt BJP’

With the Jayant Chaudhary-led RLD breaking its alliance with the Akhilesh Yadav-led Samajwadi Party (SP) ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, Azad Samaj Party (ASP) led by Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Aazad is also preparing to go solo in Uttar Pradesh in the upcoming polls.

Chandrashekhar, 37, has significant influence over Dalits in western UP. With the BSP staying away from the Opposition INDIA bloc, there were talks of an SP-RLD-ASP alliance taking shape to take on the BJP in the crucial western UP belt in the Lok Sabha polls.

“As of now, we are planning to contest 14 seats in UP on our own. We have not heard anything from SP on alliance yet and so we are preparing to go solo in the regions we are organisationally strong. People are ready to give a jolt to the BJP, but it appears the Opposition is not,” Chandrashekhar told The Indian Express.

The development assumes significance in the backdrop of a disintegrating INDIA alliance. In December 2022, the SP, RLD and ASP had contested the Khatauli and Rampur Assembly bypolls in UP together. Their alliance was able to wrest Khatauli from the BJP, with the sizeable Dalit votes in the constituency consolidating in favour of the winning RLD candidate, which was attributed to the ASP factor.

The RLD has now dumped the INDIA camp to cross over to the BJP-led NDA. The relations between the SP and its major INDIA ally Congress remains strained with their seat-sharing negotiations running into troubles.

The alliance talks between the SP and the ASP have not really taken off, sources said. They said the SP is reluctant to commit to the ASP’s desire to contest the Nagina Lok Sabha constituency in western UP. Chandrashekhar himself intends to contest from this constituency and has even