SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh will be challenge for BJP in 2019: Amit Shah

Amid Opposition parties aligning with like-minded parties to defeat Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Amit Shah on Friday said that an alliance between the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh will be a challenge for the BJP in 2019.

“If the BSP and SP contest in alliance, it would be a challenge to us,” reported IANS quoting Shah.

The BJP chief made the remarks while speaking to journalists on the occasion of the completion of four years of the Modi government.

However, Shah said that they are sure that they will win either one seat: Amethi or Rae Bareli.

Speaking about an alliance with Shiv Sena in Maharashtra, Shah said, "In 2019, the BJP will fight with Sena. We don’t want to oust them from the NDA. But if they go out, it’s their will. We are ready for every situation,” he said.

Earlier this week, Shah said that they (Opposition) all fought his party in 2014 general elections as well and will do so in 2019, but it will still come back to power with a bigger majority.

He also noted that most of these parties have little support outside their home states and will not bring additional votes to each other.

Shah said that the BJP will still come to power with a majority bigger than 2014 under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In recently held by-polls, the Samajwadi Party (SP) and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), which contested separately during UP polls and lost to BJP, emerged winners after joining hands for the two by-polls in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

On Wednesday, at the swearing-in ceremony of HD Kumaraswamy Opposition parties from all over the country set aside their differences to join hands in a show of might against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led Centre.

The rival-turned-allies in Uttar Pradesh, Akhilesh Yadav and BSP's Mayawati arrived amid loud cheers and shook hands on the podium.

Notable opposition leaders present were Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Rashtriya Janata Dal's (RJD) Tejashwi Yadav, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Communist Party of India (Marxist)'s Sitaram Yechury, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Nationalist Congress Party's Sharad Pawar.