The Congress could ally with the Janata Dal (U) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, to be held early next year, if the Rashtriya Lok Dal merges with the Sharad Yadav-led party, a well-placed sour
The Congress could ally with the Janata Dal (U) in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, to be held early next year, if the Rashtriya Lok Dal merges with the Sharad Yadav-led party, a well-placed source informed here on Thursday.
While an alliance with the ruling Samajwadi Party is not possible for obvious reasons as the Congress does not want to face the anti-incumbency factor against the Akhilesh Yadav government and the question of alliance with the BSP does not arise, it said.
Although the Congress high command does not see the Bihar-like “grand alliance” in UP against the BJP without the Samajwadi Party and the BSP, but coming together of the Congress, JD(U) and RLD could gain seats in western UP and other parts of the state due to Jats, non-Yadav OBCs and traditional voters of the Congress.
Minorities would vote for a party or a Front which can defeat the BJP whose main plank would be polartisation on communal lines, the Congress leaders foresee.
Meanwhile, talk in the political circles is that the BJP could project Union minister Smriti Irani, the charismatic face of the party who has been taking on the Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in his Amethi Lok Sabha seat and outside, but non-BJP leaders on Thrusday said this would be counter-productive for the saffron party.
“Local leaders in the UP would not accept Ms Irani as the chief ministerial candidate and she would be proved as another Kiran Bedi for the BJP,” they said while drawing attention to the BJP’s debacle in the Delhi Assembly polls it fought under Kiran Bedi’s leadership.
A section of the state Congress has been keen on alliance with the Mayawati led party but the latter may not require the Congress if dalit and muslims come together. The BJP did not project its face in Bihar and has yet to decide whether or not have a CM candiate in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry polls expected in April.
