The contours of Opposition unity ahead of elections 2019 have begun to take place in Uttar Pradesh with arch-rivals Samajwadi Party and Rashtriya Lok Dal joining hands for the Kairana Lok Sabha and Noorpur Assembly bypolls slated for May 28.

It is reliably learnt that Tabassum Hasan will be the RLD candidate from Kairana while Naeemul Hasan will be the SP candidate from Noorpur. In a quid pro quo, the two parties will support each other’s candidates in the two constituencies. Both Tabassum and Naeemul will contest on their
party’s symbol from their respective constituencies.

A formal announcement to the effect is expected to take place on Sunday with both SP president Akhilesh Yadav and RLD vice president Jayant Chaudhary being present on the occasion.

The coming together of the SP and the RLD for the bypolls follows the SP-Bahujan Samaj Party pact for the high profile Gorakhpur and Phulpur byelections, which till then were represented by chief minister Yogi Adityanath and deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. In the case of Gorakhpur and Phulpur the SP joined hands with its bête noire the BSP. The coming together of the two ensured the victory of the SP candidate in both the seats. The BJP had to suffer a resounding defeat in both.

The same gambit is being affected in Kairana and Noorpur where strange political bedfellows – the SP and the RLD-have joined hands to keep the BJP at bay. Though both the SP, with Mulayam Singh Yadav as the chief minister and the RLD under Ajit Singh’s tutelage had formed the government in
Uttar Pradesh in 2003, they later fell out and continued to remain adversaries. Political compulsions have now necessitated their coming together again.

The decision on these seats comes close on the heels of a three-hour meeting on Friday between Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Chaudhary at the former’s residence. While the two refrained from making any announcement it had become increasingly clear that a pact between the two leaders was underway. It was widely speculated following the meeting between the two that Chaudhary would contest the byelection from Kairana with SP’s support, with the RLD returning the gesture to SP in Noorpur.

However, that speculation has been laid to rest with the likelihood of Tabassum Hasan contesting from Kairana on RLD symbol and Naeemul Hasan as SP candidate from Noorpur.

RLD general secretary and national spokesperson Anil Dubey on Saturday said the two parties will contest the Lok Sabha elections 2019 together. He added a formal announcement for the Kairana and Noorpur constituencies is expected to take place on Sunday.

Bypolls in Kairana in Shamli district and Noorpur in Bijnor district will be a test case for opposition unity in western Uttar Pradesh ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election. While the BSP president Mayawati has not unveiled her cards regarding her support to the joint opposition candidate, the Congress too seems to be in a dilemma considering that the party had fielded its candidates in Gorakhpur and Phulpur.

The Kairana Lok Sabha seat had fallen vacant following the death of senior BJP leader Hukum Singh last year. The Noorpur seat fell vacant when BJP MLA Lokendra Singh died in a car accident in February while on way to Lucknow to attend the Investors’ Summit.

Kairana has a dominant section of OBCs (Jat, Gujjar, Saini and Prajapati) and Muslim voters who have played a decisive role in the outcome of the elections. The constituency also has a sizeable section of Jatav (SC) voters.