LS poll: AAP pledges support to SP-BSP-RLD candidate in Ghaziabad

With an eye to dent the BJP, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Tuesday announced it will support Suresh Bansal, the joint candidate of the SP-BSP-RLD combine from the Ghaziabad Lok Sabha seat.

The decision of the AAP, which is not contesting this seat despite having fielded a nominee in 2014, is to ensure the defeat of the BJP, a senior party office-bearer said.

"AAP's line is clear, that is to remove the Modi-Shah duo from power," party's western Uttar Pradesh unit convenor Somendra Dhaka told PTI.

He said Bansal had reached out to AAP's UP in-charge Sanjay Singh and after discussions the decision was taken by party leadership and workers.

 

"Last time we had got around one lakh votes, which means we have presence and supporters in Ghaziabad. We fought the mayoral elections here recently and got good number of votes," he said.

Dhaka said an understanding has also been reached with the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) for supporting Jayant Chaudhury in Baghpat and Ajit Chaudhary in Muzaffarnagar.

"During the first phase of the polls in UP, we have fielded candidates only from Saharanpur and Aligarh. So, on those seats we will be campaigning for ourselves, while on these two seats (Baghpat and Muzaffarnagar) we are supporting the RLD."

"Talks are underway for a similar understanding in Meerut, Kairana and Bulandshahr but nothing has been finalised yet," he told PTI over the phone.

Earlier, the AAP's Gautam Buddh Nagar unit had launched an anti-BJP campaign, days after the nomination of the party's candidate Shweta Sharma was rejected by poll officials for failing to find 10 proposers.

The party, however, had alleged injustice and claimed the nomination was rejected "under some pressure by the ruling party".

In 2014, AAP candidate Shazia Ilmi had polled nearly a lakh votes, while BJP's V K Singh had won the election by securing over 7.58 lakh votes. Ilmi had later quit the AAP and joined the BJP.

This time BJP's Singh is among the 12 candidates in the fray along with Congress's Dolly Sharma and BSP-SP-RLD's Bansal. Ghaziabad, which has over 27 lakh voters, goes to polls on April 11 during the first leg of the seven-phased elections.