Chhattisgarh Congress looks for fringe allies

Bhopal: Congress has begun looking for new poll partners, considered fringe forces in poll-bound Chhattisgarh, in the wake of BSP stitching alliance with Ajit Jogi’s party.

Sources said the party has initiated seat sharing talks with left parties- CPI and CPM- Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), and Gandwana Ganatantra Party (GGP), a tribal outfit, to recoup the gains that could have yielded had Congress sealed pact with BSP.

“Mayawati’s decision to dump us in favour of Mr Jogi’s party, Janata Congress Chhattisgarh (JCC), has upset our calculations to bridge the 0.7 percent gap of vote share with ruling BJP our party had in the 2013 assembly polls.

We are exploring ways to make it up by aligning with other parties, considered fringe forces in Chhattisgarh”, a member of think tank in Chhattisgarh Congress told this newspaper on Saturday.