Why Uttar Pradesh CM is talking of Congress pact

Lucknow: UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav’s indications about an alliance with the Congress in the offing is actually a ploy to ensure Muslims votes, said sources.

The chief minister, apparently, wants to send out a message that the Samajwadi Party is keen on an alliance with secular forces.

His strategy will also help him blame the Congress for refusing to forge a secular alliance later, if the BJP manages to form government in Uttar Pradesh.

It is to be noted that Samajwadi Party president Mulayam Singh Yadav has already made it clear that his party would not be a part of any alliance. State SP president Shivpal Yadav has also clarified that he is not aware of any ongoing talks with the Congress.

Both the leaders are even said to be upset with Mr Akhilesh Yadav’s public approval of an alliance with the Congress.

The Congress, on the other hand, has also repeatedly stated that there are no talks of an alliance with the Samajwadi Party. Senior AICC leader Ghulam Nabi Azad and UPCC president Raj Babbar have asserted that the party will fight elections on its own.

Political strategist Prashant Kishore’s series of meetings with SP leaders, apparently without permission from the Congress high command, have already pushed him to the sidelines in the Congress camp. Sources claim that Mr Kishore’s meeting with SP leaders was aimed at his next assignment.

“We have been working hard to stand on our own feet so why would we ally with the SP — more so, because we have been blaming SP, BSP and BJP in our ‘27 Saal, UP behaal’ campaign?” Besides, the Samajwadi Party has grown on our vote base and we are trying to wrest it back and this is possible only if we stand alone,” said a senior party leader.

The Congress is apparently aware of Mr Akhilesh Yadav’s game plan to create confusion in Congress ranks. “We are aware of their (SP) designs and we are also drawing up a strategy to counter it. If the SP is so keen on challenging the BJP, why did they walk out of the grand alliance in Bihar and why is the SP leadership refusing to forge an alliance with erstwhile members of the Janata Parivar?” the Congress leader asked.

His aides say the CM is aware that the bonhomie between SP and BJP leaders that was on display during “family functions” has sent a wrong message among minorities.