In UP poll talks, BJP president Nitin Nabin tells allies to hold off on specific seat claims

4 min readLucknowUpdated: Jul 5, 2026 05:06 PM IST

BJP chief Nitin Nabin urges allies to focus on seats the NDA lost in 2022 (File photo).

Negotiations among the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections 2027 are expected to be challenging. The allies have requested seats outside their traditional strongholds and have asked BJP national president Nitin Nabin to improve coordination among the district-level leaders of the alliance parties.

On the second day of his Lucknow tour, Nabin held a meeting with leaders of allies including Apna Dal (Sonelal), Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Nishad Party.

During the meeting, Nabin reportedly urged the allies to maintain coordination and refrain from making claims on specific seats for the contest. He also suggested that the allies work together to target the seats where the NDA lost in 2022. According to sources, Nabin said discussions on seat distribution would take place in Delhi at a later date.

Sources said that RLD general secretary (organisation) Trilok Tyagi represented the party at the meeting and told the BJP leaders that the RLD has developed an organisation beyond its West Uttar Pradesh base and has held rallies and public programmes in all 18 divisions of the state, with greater focus in eastern and central areas.

Sources said that Tyagi informed the BJP chief that RLD president and Union minister Jayant Chaudhary has, in recent days, held grand public programmes in Deoria, Basti, Varanasi and Sonbhadra (all in eastern UP). Sources said that, in the meeting, RLD sought an opportunity to contest a few seats in eastern UP.

Sources said that RLD also suggested that whichever party appears strong in any seat, in social equations and organisationally, that party should be given that seat to contest in 2027. RLD also suggested increasing coordination among allies’ leaders at the state, district, and Assembly constituency levels.

Collective work to consolidate votes

SBSP president and UP Cabinet minister Om Prakash Rajbhar also gave similar suggestions for coordination among NDA allies. Sources said that, in the meeting, SBSP also suggested that all allies should collectively work to consolidate OBC votes.

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“Party suggested that programmes should be organised between different social groups and senior leaders of all the allies should be invited there. That will bring voters of different caste groups together,” said a source.

Sources said that the SBSP provided a preliminary list of seats it intends to contest in the upcoming Assembly elections. The party also explained that it has strengthened its organisational presence in these seats over the past five to ten years.

SBSP’s demand for seats in Azamgarh

Sources said that SBSP specifically made its claim on those Samajwadi Party stronghold seats, for example, a few seats in Azamgarh district, where the BJP has never won in past elections. SBSP also provided a list of its proposed rallies and public events and appealed to senior BJP leaders from Delhi and Lucknow to attend these meetings.

Nishad Party president and UP Fisheries Minister Sanjay Nishad reiterated his demand in the meeting to include Nishads in the Scheduled Caste (SC) category in Uttar Pradesh and to issue SC certificates, as the community receives in Delhi. The minister appealed to Nabin to pursue the issue with the Union government.

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Speaking to The Indian Express, Sanjay Nishad said he suggested increasing coordination among NDA allies in the state.

Speaking to the media later, Nabin said the BJP is prepared for the elections. “As all the NDA parties have worked together to make Uttar Pradesh a Uttam Pradesh and Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath have worked with the spirit of service, we are confident of making an NDA government with a massive majority in the 2027 elections,” Nabin said.

Earlier, Nabin also met former BJP state presidents and sought their suggestions for the 2027 polls.

Lalmani is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express, and is based in New Delhi. He covers politics of the Hindi Heartland, tracking BJP, Samajwadi Party, BSP, RLD and other parties based in UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand. Covered the Lok Sabha elections of 2014, 2019 and 2024; Assembly polls of 2012, 2017 and 2022 in UP along with government affairs in UP and Uttarakhand. ... Read More

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Uttar Pradesh elections